Living From Dream to Dream
by music5692
Summary: a new half blood comes to camp, one who will change everything. percabeth and an ocXoc pairing called sheo.
1. Thank the Gods for Bubbles

Sholeh Bell sighed softly as she turned the tap for her bath. Hot water rushed into the tub and swirled tumultuously like the girl's thoughts. She was fifteen years old with golden-blond hair and a slim body. Sholeh's eyes were a deep blue, but in bright light or when angry, they turned green with flecks of gold. Blue lines spread from them, forming purple circles underneath, giving her the appearance of one perpetually tired and the harrowed gaze of one distrustful of the world. Her skin was an unfashionably pale shade.

Sholeh poured bubbles into the water, quickly undressed and eased herself into the water. Her joints protested, aching with pain; lacrosse practice had been a killer workout. The hot water soothed the girl's muscles but could do nothing for the gentle throbbing of her head. Sholeh closed her eyes, surrendering to her fatigue and to the sweet smelling bubbles.

However, it was that exact moment a boy climbed silently through her open window and motioned to others down below. Undetected two more climbed up, and stood silently in the corner of Sholeh's large bathroom. Finally, one stepped forward and coughed gently. Her eyes snapped open surveying the strangers in her bathroom with an expression of both panic and anger.

"Okay, who the hell are you all, and what are you doing in my bathroom?" Sholeh exclaimed with a gasp. _I must stay calm_, Sholeh thought, _I can't get angry… not like last time. _She surveyed the odd group of strangers, fighting against the anger that threatened to overcome her. At front there was a guy who looked about eighteen, with sandy hair who was extremely handsome. There was also a soft light that shone around his face, like an aura. Behind him stood a black haired boy with green eyes that immediately reminded Sholeh of the ocean and a strange half-boy half-goat creature. All in all, it was a pretty strange picture. Thank goodness I put in a lot of bubbles, thought the girl.

"Um, alright, where to begin," the black haired boy began. "I'm Percy Jackson, well, Perseus really, but no one calls me that, and this is Grover" he continued, motioning to the goat-person thing, "and this is Apollo," he finished, pointing to the good-looking guy.

"Like the sun god, Apollo?" Sholeh asked, with eyebrows raised.

"Dude, good guess. Very much like that." Apollo answered.

"Alright, now that I know your names, I kind of need you to leave, seeing as this is a private property you all have broken into." Sholeh said, trying to sound reasonable.

"Well, see, we can't do that. Unless you come with us," replied Percy Jackson. He seemed very uncomfortable, and looked constantly at his feet, the ceiling, and anywhere but at the girl in front of him sitting in the tub.

"Why would I ever do that? You have got to me kidding me. This is some kind of elaborate prank. I am definitely not going to leave with three strange guys who just broke into my bathroom."

"You have to. Sholeh… may I call you Sholeh?"

"No, you cannot."

"Okay, Sholeh, you aren't safe here. There is something that you don't know about yourself and it's putting you in really serious danger. We know a place that's safe for you and people like you, and you really need to come with us." Percy seemed exasperated, but Sholeh was not about to give in that easily.

"So what is this huge secret I don't know about myself? And what is this danger?"

"Well, we can't tell you here, since it will just make you more vulnerable to attack and…"

"Vulnerable? Okay, listen, I am not going anywhere without a good reason, and I am certainly not vulnerable. So you will just have to tell me." The girl's eyes glowed with an unexpected strength and determination. And just a little bit of obsession.

Probably because he realized that Sholeh indeed meant what she said, Percy let out a huge sigh and began to tell her what she really was. "Fine, we'll do it your way. Y'know the Greek gods? Poseidon, Zeus, Athena, Hades and the rest?" Sholeh nodded. Her foster parents had taught her Greek mythology ever since she was little. "Well, those aren't myths about them. They're true and the gods are still out there. Except not on Mount Olympus, since the center of civilization is now in New York. But the concepts still the same. And well, sometimes they have kids with mortals. That's you and me."

"Continue." Percy looked at Sholeh for the first time. She was taking this remarkably well. Last time he and Grover went looking for half bloods, it had involved enchiladas, Japanese fighting fish, and a very ticked off son of Aphrodite. Not a pretty picture.

"But the problem is there are also monsters, who want to eat half bloods (gods' children) and so heroes have to go on quests all the time to fight them."

"Is he a monster?" Sholeh asked, pointing at Grover, who was cowering in the corner.

Percy immediately burst into laughter, but Grover looked affronted. "No! Grover is a satyr. They help find heroes. He's also my best friend besides Annabeth. You'll meet her at camp. By the way, there's also this really evil guy, Kronos, who is trying to destroy the gods. There's a prophecy that a child of the Big Three, that is, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, will either destroy or save the gods."

"Um, OK."

"OK?"

"Well this is obviously a made up story. How long did it take you to come up with that? Lots of details, it must've taken you a while. Seriously, why are you here?"

"I told you. You need to come to Camp Half Blood with us. It's the only place you'll be safe and now you're in even greater danger because you know you're a half blood. Lord Apollo, can you give me a hand here?"

"Nope, sorry, kid. No direct help. I guess that means I can't do this…" As Apollo spoke, the faint light surrounding him became brighter and brighter. Instinctively, Sholeh covered her eyes with her hand. When the light became so strong she thought she was going to go blind, a voice resonated through the bathroom.

Sholeh Prometheus Bell, I am the god Apollo, deity of the sun, truth, prophecy, medicine, music and poetry. The voice was indeed Apollo's, but reverberated with strength and power. You must accept the truth, because more than just your life hangs in the balance. I see greatness for you, Sholeh.

Gradually, the light dimmed and the bathroom was just the same as before. But Sholeh suddenly realized that she had seen a god in his true form.

"Nope, sorry, kid. No direct help." Apollo repeated, or at least it seemed that way to Sholeh.

"What are you talking about? You're a god!" Sholeh exclaimed. What was he talking about?

"Yeah, I know. But the rules are that…"

"I don't care about the rules, you started shining and …"

"Whoa, there, babe, maybe it was just my incredible attractiveness. Because I wasn't 'shining.'"

"Yes, you were. But-" Sholeh glanced at Grover and Percy. Judging by the looks on their faces, neither one had any idea what she was talking about. Apollo, however, gave her a knowing smile and winked. Sholeh didn't know what he had done, but she did know that Percy was telling the truth. In an instant, she made up her mind.

"Take me to Camp Half Blood." Percy grinned and Grover finally spoke.

"Yes! I really need to get back to the other satyrs. They've been pretty shaken up about… Pan." At this, the satyr's eyes began to glisten, as though he was about to cry. Sholeh felt sorry for him. Clearly, Grover had been shaken up by whatever 'Pan' was, also.

"Wait, if I'm a half blood, who's my godly parent?" Sholeh didn't even know who her mortal parent was; she had been dropped off at social services when just a baby and was adopted a year later by her current family. She fit in pretty well, and considered them her real family.

"Well, we don't know, your parent will claim you at camp. Until then, you'll stay in the Hermes cabin."

Apollo spoke, "Well, if it's not Aphrodite, I'll tell her she's lowering her standards. Because girl, you are…" Percy cut him off with a look that said 'No-flirting-with-the-half-blood-I-am-trying-to-rescue.'

"Oh, I hope not. I mean really, what does she do anyway? Besides make people fall in love? Kind of pathetic occupation, really." Sholeh replied. "Who's your parent, then Percy?"

"Poseidon."

Apollo spoke up, but seemed a little anxious. "Sholeh, you really shouldn't have said that. I know Aphrodite, and she is going to be pissed, let me tell you."

"What that she doesn't do anything? Whatever. So, Percy, was that prophecy about you?" Percy looked impressed. She had a sharp memory and was apparently very smart. She reminded him of Annabeth, and when that thought came to him, he blushed.

"Well, it's not until I'm sixteen, so that's another year." He replied and Sholeh wondered why Percy seemed so embarrassed.

After a moment of silence, Sholeh spoke. "Okay, everyone turn around, I'm coming out of the water." The three obediently did so, facing the window, and Sholeh quickly grabbed a towel. She walked into her room and dressed in jeans and a tee shirt. For October, it was still pretty warm outside.

"Sholeh, you need to get over here. Now." Percy's voice sounded tense. The girl ran back to her bathroom window. Standing between Apollo and Percy, she caught sight of it. A huge, black hound with red, fiery eyes was pacing outside her window. It was two stories down, but was admittedly a terrifying sight. Behind it, there was a red Maserati convertible. It was smoking slightly and the grass around it had been fried to a crisp.

"Okay, the car's right behind the monster. Great. Is there another way to get out of here, Sholeh?" Percy had an air of leadership about him that made the girl think he had done this many times before.

"Other than a window? I don't want to imagine where you grew up. There are doors in most houses." Sholeh responded sarcastically. Oddly enough, she was not frightened. The blood pounded in her ears, and adrenalin told her to fight that hellhound. Hellhound? How did she know what the monster was?

"Very funny. Unfortunately, this really isn't the time for jokes."

"Sorry. There's a door on the side near the garage, one in front, and one in back to the left of the hellhound."

"Okay, I will distract the monster by coming out the door closest to it. Grover, you take Sholeh out the garage door and get to the car. Apollo…" the three turned to where the god had been to see only empty space.

"Where did he go?" Sholeh wondered out loud before looking out the window. There the god was, sitting in the Maserati and waving. "Oh. I guess he really doesn't need to worry about the hellhound."

"Good, now we can get out of here quickly. Go, you two!" Percy commanded. Grover and Sholeh sprinted down the stairs with the girl leading the way. It was, after all, her house. Reaching the sunroom, the two saw that Percy had climbed down the ladder and was fighting the hellhound with some sort of sword. Anaklusmos, thought Sholeh. What a beautiful blade. Not really my style, though. Oh my gods, now where did that come from? I've never seen that sword before, how do I know its name? Percy really was fighting well, and seemed to have the upper hand until the beast grabbed Riptide with his teeth, throwing it across Sholeh's yard. The son of Poseidon was without a weapon as the hellhound advanced.

Instinctively, Sholeh sprinted over to where Riptide lay. Just as the hellhound was about to grab Percy by the arm, she screamed, "Hey! Over here, you mutt!" Picking up the sword, she was amazed by its heaviness. Riptide seemed to fight to break free and go to its owner, but Sholeh knew she couldn't throw a heavy blade that far, so she prepared to fight the hellhound herself. When the monster reached her, she sidestepped and attacked it with Riptide, leaving a deep gash in its side. She then did a complicated move with the sword and stabbed the hellhound in the shoulder. I am really good at this, she thought, but at that moment, the monster jumped forward and pushed her over. Riptide fell about ten feet away and as the monster advanced, Sholeh knew there was no way she could get it. Suddenly, she was filled with anger. I am not going to die here. Hades, this hellhound will not kill me.

A huge fissure opened up in the ground beneath the hellhound. Sholeh stood up, watching the hellhound fall in with a look of maniacal power on her face. She smiled darkly and clenched her fists until the knuckles became white. The hellhound managed to cling to the side of the crevice until Sholeh made a motion with her hand, and flames consumed the hellhound, who vanished with a howl.

Percy ran over to the girl, who was now kneeling on the ground. Suddenly, she looked so fragile. "Are you OK?" he asked, both concerned and in awe.

"Yes, I just…. I'm so weak all of a sudden." Looking around, she asked, "Where's Grover?" The satyr was not by the door where she had left him. Then, turning to the sun car, she saw him talking nervously to Apollo, trying to convince the god to drive as if it was a normal car, and not fly through the air. "Never mind."

Percy helped her up and the two walked to the red Maserati. When Sholeh got in, Apollo eagerly asked her, "Want to drive?" Sholeh thought he was kidding until he repeated himself.

"Well, I've only ever driven up my driveway, and I'm just fifteen, but…. OK!" Sholeh exclaimed. For some reason she thought she could handle this. Percy and Grover thought otherwise.

"Sholeh, NO! Bad idea." Grover yelled.

"Jeez, why not?"

"Well, one of our friends tried once, and well…. It didn't turn out so well. And she's Zeus' daughter, so she should have control of the sky."

"Fine. You guys are no fun." Apollo sighed, also disappointed. They took off into the sky with the god at the wheel. Sholeh could see the towns below getting smaller and smaller. Turning back, she saw also that the land behind them got dark. Makes sense, she thought, if this is what Apollo drives, and he's the sun. Her eyes started to close shut and the exhausted girl fell asleep in the back seat of the sun.


	2. If We Were Related

**CHAPTER 2: IF WE WERE RELATED**

"Sholeh… Sholeh, wake up. We're here." Percy pushed the girl gently, trying to awaken her. She rolled over and mumbled something to the effect of 'five more minutes, dad.' Percy sighed in frustration and asked Grover for help. The satyr eagerly pulled out his reed pipes and played a tune sounding suspiciously like Hannah Montana's "Start All Over." It worked, however, as Sholeh jolted upright.

"What did I miss?" she exclaimed.

"We're at Camp Half Blood. Well, just outside its borders actually."

"Why aren't we inside?"

This time Apollo answered instead of Percy. "Well, hon, last time I landed the sun car inside camp, there was a minor mishap I'm sure we don't need to go into." Sholeh looked quizzically at him, until Grover answered.

"He burned down Aphrodite cabin!" The satyr and Percy started laughing hysterically, imagining the sight, and even more, the smell. Burning makeup doesn't exactly smell like roses.

"Dude, it was a total accident! Not my fault! But did Aphrodite listen? No! She just blew up in my face," Apollo protested. "Totally demanded I build her kids a new cabin. As if! I just told her to get her husband to build her a new one, but she didn't really go for that idea. Percy, are her kids still living in those ridiculous tents?"

"Nah," the boy answered. "Hephaestus built them a new cabin. Exactly like the old one, except whenever someone says 'Aphrodite' near it, it starts screaming 'cheater!' It was funny at first, but gets to be seriously annoying after a while."

"I can imagine," Sholeh answered, grinning. "I think I'm going to like it here."

"You definitely will. It's the best!" Percy enthusiastically answered, if a bit too enthusiastically. Sholeh's ear had been right by Percy's mouth, and his yell definitely exceeded the recommended decibel level.

"He's right! There's trees, and enchiladas, and nature,--" Grover interrupted, only to be cut off by Percy again.

"—And sword fighting, and archery, and capture the flag, and plates that fill with whatever food you want, and chariot races, and Annabeth, and everything smells like strawberries," Percy continued happily, oblivious of his slip-up.

"Percy, did you say Annabeth?" Grover asked, giving Percy a certain 'look.'

"Uh, no. No, why would I say Annabeth? Ha, silly Grover. I said, uh… Macbeth. Yes, Macbeth. There's going to be the play, Macbeth, this year," Percy answered nervously and in one breath.

"No, there's not, Percy. Why would there be a play?" asked Grover, very confused.

"_Yes_, there is. Right, Grover?" replied Percy, winking frantically and elbowing the satyr at the same time. This awkward conversation carried on for several more minutes before the two realized that both Apollo and Sholeh had long before left the car. Then, the two ran off after the god and the girl, who were fast approaching the border to Camp Half Blood.

"Hey, darling, if you ever need archery tips or something, you know who to call. Just give me a ring, anytime," Apollo said, but Sholeh wasn't falling for it.

"Uh, sure…. Wait, if you think I need archery tips… I can't be your daughter then. Right?"

"No, sorry. I know you were just wishing you were related to someone as cool as me," (at this Sholeh scoffed) "but no, I'm not your dad. But then again, baby, if we were related, I couldn't do this," Apollo said softly as he leaned in, trying to kiss Sholeh. She however pushed him away quickly.

"No way! First, what makes you think I'm your 'baby?' I am no one's 'baby', let alone yours. Second, there is no way in Hades I would let you kiss me. Get it?" Sholeh said with a dangerous edge in her voice and eyes flashing. Normally, Apollo would have ignored this, but there was something about the power around this girl that warned him to back off.

"Fine, darling, but you're missing out. No one says 'no' to me, but, whatever. Your loss," the god quipped playfully.

"That's so not true. I'm not the first girl to turn you away. Or have you forgotten your beloved Daphne so quickly?" After saying this, Sholeh immediately regretted it. The god's eyes lost all of their playful quality, and when he spoke, his voice was no longer carefree, but wretched with heartache.

"You know nothing of what I lost, Sholeh. _Nothing_. I learned not to insult love long ago, and paid a terrible price for my arrogance," Apollo sighed morosely. Sholeh began to apologize for bringing it up, but he silenced her with his hand. The air around them seemed to thicken with misery, until he finally grabbed the girl by the shoulders. Staring straight into her eyes, Apollo said seriously, "Don't insult Aphrodite or her son, Sholeh. Because the wounds caused by love are more deadly than any caused by arrows or swords." At this, the two walked in silence for another minute, until they could see the border and Grover and Percy finally caught up.

"What did we miss?" Grover asked, panting from the run to reach the god and the girl.

"Nothing, dude," Apollo replied, back to his normal self. Sholeh was amazed at the transformation she had just witnessed. What was this love, that it could cause such pain to even a god? "Okay, guys, this is where I gotta leave ya. Big party tonight with the other gods. Of course, parties haven't been the same without Dionysus, but he has to be at camp, I guess. Shame, though; he really had the best parties around." And with those elegant parting words, Apollo vanished in a cloud of bright light. A few seconds later, the trio could see him waving as he drove the sun car across the sky.

"Well then, let's get to camp," Percy said, beginning to walk towards the borders. "I really need to talk to Annabeth and—"

"Ha!" Grover exclaimed. "I knew it!

"That proves nothing! Before I really did say Macbeth. Now, I just need to talk to Annabeth. That doesn't mean I _like_ her, or anything!" Percy began yelling at Grover and the two started talking at once.

"You _like_ her?"

"No! Well… I didn't say that."

"Uh, guys?" Sholeh began. "Guys? PERCY AND GROVER! TURN AROUND _NOW_!" she finally yelled. At least it got their attention and they both quickly spun around to see the ten skeleton warriors standing in front of them. Thankfully, they were armed with swords, not guns, but the undead still make a pretty terrifying picture.

"What the Hades…." began Percy, but there wasn't time to finish as he pulled out Riptide. Grover began to play a tune on his reed pipe that made vines attach to their legs, but the skeletons easily broke free.

"Percy?" Sholeh called. He was viciously fighting with three skeletons, but no avail. "What should I do?"

"Nothing!" he called back. "Just get back to camp. We'll hold them off."

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Well, you have to, since there's really nothing you can do. Just go _now_!"

"I told you, I'm not going," Sholeh replied resolutely. She could feel anger boiling up inside her. _Can't do anything,_ she thought, _I'll show them I so can_. Sholeh sat down on the ground, as if she was going to meditate. Grover and Percy began yelling at her as she closed her eyes, but their yells were lost to her. She listened to the rhythm of her anger and when it reached a climax, she raised her right hand and snapped once. The noise reverberated around the forest unnaturally and birds immediately flew out of their trees.

At the noise, the ten skeleton warriors burst into flames. Two tried to keep fighting while being consumed by the fire, but all fell to the ground eventually. Slowly, their bones disintegrated, until there was nothing left of them. Sholeh stood up and walked over to watch them die (again). Percy and Grover saw, astonished, the look on her normally peaceful face. It was filled with anger and darkness. Then, when the skeletons had disappeared, she held up her hand, and the fire vanished.

"Whoa," Grover squeaked, "You're scarier than the skeletons."

"Aren't you glad I'm on your side?" Sholeh joked, back to her normal self. "Told you I wasn't leaving, Percy."

"Well… thanks. Those normally can't die, so this is a first. How did you do that?"

"I don't really know. It just came to me," Sholeh replied truthfully. Neither one noticed the campers who heard the sound of the fight, running towards them. It seemed the entire camp was coming to see what was going on.

Percy smiled. "Well, keep it coming. You've officially destroyed eleven monsters in the past day, ten of which are supposed to be impossible to destroy." At this, the campers had reached them, and many began frantically talking to Percy and Grover, or staring at Sholeh.

"I'll try." And with this, Sholeh gave a small smile before fainting into the arms of one of the many campers around her. The boy who caught her had sandy blond hair and a very handsome face. Her last word before she passed out was, "Apollo?"

"Not Apollo. It's Leo," the boy answered, but his words were lost to Sholeh, who had passed out in his arms.

Sholeh cautiously opened her eyes. Looking around, she was in a room with white walls and a huge window to her right. Sholeh also saw three empty beds in the room and a cabinet full of bottles labeled 'ambrosia' and 'nectar.' Outside, there was a meadow with green hills in the distance. The room looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time. In fact, it was filled with the kind of cobwebs you see in horror movies. And at that moment, a huge spider took the opportunity to land on Sholeh's face.

"Ahhhhhhhh! Oh my gods, get it off! Get it off!" she screamed. Grabbing the spider (which was disgustingly hairy) she flung it a few feet, and it landed on a desk. She jumped up and stood as far as possible from the spider on her bed.

However, Sholeh's screams attracted another visitor, one who was even more afraid of spiders than she. A blonde girl with curled hair and wearing an orange shirt that read 'Camp Half Blood' and blue jeans burst into the room.

"What is going _on_ in here? You're supposed to be in bed!" she yelled, pointing at Sholeh. Then she caught sight of the spider. "Oh. My. Gods. EWWWWW! Εγώ μισώ αράχνη!" she yelled. Strangely enough, Sholeh understood that the girl said _I hate spiders_. She had taken Latin in school, and seemed to have a knack for it, but had never learned Ancient Greek.

When the spider started crawling towards her visitor, the girl jumped up on the bed with Sholeh. They both kept screaming until Sholeh finally had the courage to hit it with a book. There was a sickening _crunch_ and the spider's guts squirted out.

"Gross," said Sholeh.

"Yeah, really," the girl replied. "I'm Annabeth Chase, by the way. Nice to meet you," she said, holding out her hand. Sholeh shook it and the grinned at the girl.

"Why are you smiling?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.

"No reason. Just that I've heard so much about you from Percy," Sholeh replied.

"Like what?" Annabeth asked eagerly.

"Oh, nothing. Just forget I said that. So, why are you here?"

"Well, I live here."

"No, I mean in this room."

"Oh, I was actually coming to see you when I heard your terrified screams."

"Hey, you were pretty terrified too," Sholeh joked.

"Well, that's not my fault. I'm predisposed to being afraid of spiders."

"Why?"

"My mom's Athena. Y'know, the whole Arachne deal."

"Oh, right."

"So, anyway, I was coming to lend you some clothes. Percy said you were about my size, and hadn't had time to pack before leaving." Annabeth handed her a duffle bag filled with clothes. "Oh, I also stole some from the Aphrodite cabin. I don't really own that many, and you can keep the ones from them. They have so many, Aphrodite kids won't even notice they're missing clothes."

"Thanks," Sholeh replied gratefully. She looked down at her own clothes, which were covered in dirt, scorch marks, and hellhound slobber. "So where exactly am I?"

"Camp Half Blood. Half-Blood Hill, Long Island, New York. Specifically the medical cabin. It hasn't been used in such a long time, so that explains the cobwebs. But now, with Kronos on the rise again, Chiron and Mr. D figured that we might as well use it."

"Oh. Wait, why am I in the medical cabin?"

"Well, you fainted at Camp borders. Sorry, but can I ask why? Percy and Grover have been talking to Chiron and Mr. D this whole time, so no one really knows what happened. All we do know is that Lord Apollo was sent for to escort Percy and Grover to pick up a new half blood."

Sholeh explained all that had happened, and Annabeth replied, "Whoa. You're definitely on my team for Capture The Flag."

Finally, Sholeh asked about the boy who caught her after fainting. "Who is he? I thought he was Apollo."

"I'm Leo." The same boy was leaning against the doorpost casually. He had chocolate brown eyes, with flecks of gold, and shining hair that curved into his face. He flipped it out of his eyes in a quick motion and smiled softly at Sholeh.

"Oh. Well, thanks for catching me back there. And, um, sorry for confusing you with Apollo—" Sholeh replied awkwardly.

"Understandable. He is my dad, so it's no problem. If you had confused me with, say, Poseidon, I would have been angry," Leo replied kindly. It took Sholeh a moment to realize that he was joking, but by that time, Leo had left with a wave and a quiet smile.

Sholeh sat in silence for a minute then looked quizzically at Annabeth. Trying to regain her confidence, she joked, "What was _that_ about?" A tiny and musical voice sounded inside Sholeh's head. _ I think you know __exactly__ what that was about, my dear. Oh, this will be very interesting. Don't fret, you will get a love story soon enough_. Although the voice sounded beautiful, it also had a tinge of danger. And quickly as it sounded in her mind, it disappeared, leaving Sholeh to listen to Annabeth.

"-- And dinner is at seven exactly, so don't be late. Capture The Flag is on Friday night, so that's three days from now. You are definitely going to be on my and Percy's team, but first you're going to have to train. I can take you around to archery and sword fighting practice tomorrow, since you seem to be feeling better. Except I have to go now to train and see if Percy and Grover have finished yet. Bye!" Annabeth finished and began to leave. Sholeh said goodbye to her new friend, but didn't have time to rest, as yet another camper visited her.

"Sholeh! You're awake," Percy said. "Change clothes, and then I'll give you a tour of camp." He left and closed the door so the girl could change into a Camp Half Blood tee shirt and black shorts. Leaving the medical cabin, Sholeh surveyed her new home. Everywhere, kids and teens were jousting, shooting arrows, and talking. Cabins, which really looked more like mausoleums surrounded the meadow, each decorated in accordance to their gods. Percy showed her the Big House, forest, each cabin, and training areas, while explaining the basic information about Olympian gods and goddesses. Sholeh took everything in, amazed.

Finally, Percy called over a black haired and olive skinned boy. He wore black clothes and a skull ring on one of his fingers. "Sholeh, this is Nico. Nico, this is Sholeh."

The boy called Nico stared at Sholeh with a critical eye. She finally asked him, "What are you looking at?" which thankfully made the boy laugh.

"It's a possibility, Percy. I can't be sure, but it's a definite possibility," Nico said before walking briskly away. Percy nodded and innocently dodged all of Sholeh's questions about the encounter.

Soon, they arrived at the Big House. There, a huge white centaur stood with a rather short and pudgy man. As the two half bloods approached, Percy introduced them as Chiron and Mr. D. Chiron nodded and said that it was a pleasure to meet her, while Mr. D just yawned.

There was a pause, and then Chiron spoke. "So, Sholeh, how do you like Camp Half Blood so far?"

"It's fantastic. I can't wait for Capture The Flag, and Annabeth said that I would be on her team. Where can I get a sword or something?" Sholeh replied, until noticing that Mr. D was imitating her very rudely. "And what's your problem?" she asked him, bluntly. "You may be a god, Dionysus, but that doesn't mean you get to insult anyone."

"_Au contraire_," he answered, "I can insult anyone I want. And what are you going to do about it, little girl?" He approached her until she could see the whites of his eyes. Gazing into their pupils, Sholeh immediately knew that however weak he seemed, Dionysus was not to be messed with. She saw grape vines strangling men, and drunken soldiers killing and being killed. Finally he stepped back, and grumbled, "I can see why Aphrodite doesn't like you. Or Zeus, for that matter. I can also see why your parents do."

Percy grabbed Sholeh's arm, trying to drag her to Cabin Eleven, but then Chiron approached. "I can take it from here, Percy," he said, and Percy left to go find Annabeth and Grover after saying goodbye to Sholeh.

"That's an interesting name, you have, Sholeh," Chiron said cautiously.

"My foster parents said it means 'fire' in Persian."

"Yes, I know, which is why it is interesting." After a pause, he continued. "Well, you had better get to Cabin Eleven. I hope you have fun," Chiron said, and promptly left. Sholeh started walking over to the Hermes cabin. When she arrived at the door, she knocked, but then hearing sounds of chaos inside, just went in.

Upon entering, Sholeh Bell saw a very bulky and angry girl hanging by her foot by the ceiling and being prodded by two twins. The other campers inside were cheering the twins on, while the girl hanging upside down shouted insults and swore loudly. Everyone immediately turned around when she entered, silent except for the girl being tortured.

"Hey," Sholeh said awkwardly. "Um, what's up?"

The two twins approached her and looked at the girl critically. Finally, both extended a hand and said at the same time, "We're Travis and Connor Stoll, counselors of Hermes cabin. Are you the girl who killed the hellhound and skeletons?"

"Yeah," she answered.

"Cool!" Travis (or was it Connor) exclaimed. "So we're guessing you don't know who your parent is."

"Nope." The rest of the campers inside let out a collective groan. Sholeh could hear them say 'Not another one' or 'Its crowded enough in here as it is.' "Um, just wondering, why is that girl hanging upside down?"

"Oh. That's Clarisse. She's obnoxious and from Ares cabin, so we decided to teach her a lesson," explained Connor.

"You got a problem with that?" questioned Travis.

"Nope. She's cutting herself free by the way." The twins went to take away her sword, and after a short fight, succeeded.

"You can sleep in that bunk," said the twins. And without further ado, they began poking Clarisse again. Quickly the yelling resumed, and Sholeh found herself joining in.


	3. Lost in Destruction

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 3: LOST IN DESTRUCTION**

After Clarisse finally broke free of her captors and sprinted out the front door before dramatically yelling, "I'll be back, pipsqueaks!", Sholeh got to know the other members of Cabin Eleven. Only a quarter of the inhabitants had actually been claimed by Hermes. They all had sly smiles and were expert thieves; Sholeh had a bracelet, necklace, and earring stolen in the first five minutes (she was really baffled when Connor had managed to steal the earring off her ear.) The campers who had not been claimed were a rather ragtag group who seemed to distrust Sholeh. At first, she was angry that the undetermined demigods were so unfriendly, but after Travis explained that many had been at camp for several years, without knowing their parent, she reluctantly forgave them.

Soon, she knew nearly everyone's names and was being taught by the Hermes kids how to pick someone's pocket. Sholeh was not nearly as talented as they, but could almost steal keys out of a back pocket. Finally, everyone began to go to sleep, but Sholeh and a couple of the other campers stayed up later, talking softly into the night.

"How did everyone get to be here?" she whispered, trying not to wake up those sleeping, but also curious to know if the other half bloods had been brought to camp by a god.

"We had a friend called Sam, who turned out to be satyr. He brought us here, after we got kicked out of the tenth school in a row," replied Connor, speaking for himself and Travis.

"Same here," said an undetermined girl named Lynn. "I kept seeing monsters everywhere I went, and a bunch of them tried to kill me. Finally, Star found me and brought me here from California, where I'd lived. But we met furies on the road, and Star sacrificed herself to save me. She said that it was her duty as a satyr, but I still wonder if I could've found a way to save us both," she finished unhappily. The rest nodded in the dark. They had all had similar experiences; being a demigod was dangerous, and lonely. More often than not, your friends died in service to Mount Olympus and their parent, although that parent might not even acknowledge them.

Listening to other campers' stories of persevering dedication, it seemed to Sholeh that Western Civilization was built on slave labor. Demigods worked tirelessly for the gods, carrying out their wills blindly. Maybe one in a thousand heroes would be remembered, like Theseus or Aeneas. It was more likely that they were silently killed by a monster and forgotten. Some were murdered so young too; Lynn said that she had always seen monsters…

A terrible thought dawned on Sholeh. _That hellhound was the first monster I'd seen, but everyone else has been facing them their whole lives. The beasts probably didn't just decide to take pity on me, so why have I never seen one before?_ Fearing, albeit naively, that her new friends would reject her, Sholeh decided to pretend she had seen monsters all her life. However, she decided that she would have to ask Percy and Annabeth about it in the morning.

"Truth or dare!" someone called out. The game began with silly questions, like 'have you ever French kissed?' but as the night grew later and more demigods fell asleep, they became more serious.

"If you were a child of the Big Three, would you choose to save Olympus?" Connor asked gravely; it was one of the only times anyone had heard him not joking. The question was followed by a pause in which all the demigods pondered the question.

"Yeah, of course," replied Lynn. The others agreed, but Sholeh remained silent. She was so tired. All the events of the past days at Camp Half Blood blended together in her mind and her thoughts became inexplicably tangled together. She began to confuse Kronos with Zeus, Hermes with Hades, and Grover with Percy. All she knew was that nothing could be as it seemed, because she didn't seem to be what she was. _Who am I?_

"What about you, Sholeh?" Travis asked.

"I don't know," she responded, though not knowing to which question, and drifted off into sleep.

Waking up, Sholeh found that everyone had already left, presumably for the mess hall. She took a shower and dressed quickly, hoping to catch Percy and Annabeth before they went to training so they might be able to tell her something about the monsters (or lack thereof) she had seen before Camp Half Blood. _They might even be able to tell me about my Olympian family…. Di immortales! My family; they have no idea where I am! Gods, they must be so worried!_

She immediately crossed to the fountain in the cabin and threw in a coin, like Percy had shown her yesterday. Sholeh clearly stated, "Bell family, New Fairfield, Connecticut, 37 Pembroke Road." Immediately, the image appeared in the mist of a typical family sitting down to breakfast. A brown haired mother poured orange juice for her two young children and the father read the newspaper. Friends that Sholeh brought over to her house had always claimed that her family was perfect. Mealtimes especially looked like something out of a magazine. She had never told them that her foster father was having an affair with his secretary and the house was in turmoil. Her mother screamed each night that she was leaving, locked herself in her bedroom, and then returned, crying that she couldn't. Mrs. Bell would pack and unpack her things every night. Mr. Bell, after witnessing this many times, simply would not come home from work each night, but return in the early morning. Simply put, Sholeh's house was in a perennial state of chaos. _Which is why I fit in so well_, she thought.

"Hey," Sholeh spoke, but no one noticed her. "Hello!" she yelled, much louder this time. Her family all spun around to see her.

"Sholeh! How are you! How's Camp Half Blood?" Mrs. Bell asked.

"How do you know where I am?"

"Oh, sweetie, my mother was a daughter of Athena. That's all she ever talked about; Camp Half Blood," Mrs. Bell replied. Sholeh sensed bitterness in her mother's voice. It must have been frustrating for her to hear as a child about a place she could probably never go. "Also, when we adopted you, we received a visit from someone named Mr. Brunner. He was this old man in a wheelchair who said that one day you would be taken away from us."

_So much for them being worried sick_, thought Sholeh. "Oh. Well, I just wanted to let you know I was all right. And, um… that's it."

"OK, dear."

"Well, I faced some pretty scary monsters. I killed them, but I could've died, y'know," Sholeh was beginning to get annoyed. They could at least _pretend_ to care about her.

"We're glad you didn't," Mr. Bell finally spoke. "I have a meeting this morning, and I'm going to be late. Anything else?" he asked in a disinterested tone. Her two brothers began fighting over a dinosaur toy, and though Mrs. Bell was still looking at the Iris message, the expression on her face clearly said 'I-have-better-things-to-do.'

"No," replied his foster daughter in a cold tone, "No. I have nothing else to say to you. And I want nothing more to do with you people. I'm going to find my real family, because you're not it." She ended the Iris message and sat down hard on the bed.

All those years, thinking that they cared about her. Her entire life, believing that she was accepted as their daughter. Now she realized the sad truth; to them, Sholeh was someone else's child and a roadblock in their life. They were all so wrapped up in their own problems that the danger Sholeh faced was nothing. _Nothing_, she reiterated, _Well, they are __nothing__ to me now. If they don't care about me, I won't care about them. I've always worked better on my own, anyway. I can handle anything, and I don't need help from anyone._ Sholeh's lips turned up at the side, curling into a dark smile.

Standing up with fists clenched, Sholeh felt strong and empowered. But when she began running to sword training, doubts clouded her thoughts.

For the next two days, Sholeh worked so hard in training, she forgot to ask Percy and Annabeth about the monsters. The two demigods became Sholeh's trainers, since they wanted so badly to win Capture the Flag. During the next days, she worked intensely and the effects were visible. Her arms and legs gained some muscle, and her face gained a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks.

Quickly, Sholeh discovered that fighting was not nearly as easy as it looked, and every night fell exhausted into bed, sometimes falling asleep before doing so. However, she did seem to have a natural talent for fighting. Sholeh proved to be decent with a sword, and though not nearly as proficient as Percy, she could easily beat the Apollo kids. Children of Ares proved to be more of a challenge, and after two days, she still couldn't beat Clarisse. Sholeh soon discovered that she was truly terrible at archery. After every single arrow she shot landed five hundred feet away from the target and two hit innocent passerby, she almost took Apollo up on his offer to teach her. However, she found a much less arrogant tutor in Leo, and though her archery improved little, the two became fast friends. After practicing bow and arrow, Leo would take out his guitar to play songs he wrote. He was truly talented, but that went without saying since he was a son of Apollo.

"Who do you think were the best musicians in the world?" Sholeh asked him once. He looked at her right in the eyes for so long Sholeh believed she could see his soul. Leo then smiled widely, revealing his strong white teeth.

"Mozart, Beethoven, and Jimi Hendrix. Not to brag, Firegirl, but they were all sons of Apollo."

Sholeh laughed. "Firegirl? When did you come up with that?"

Leo blushed noticeably. "I don't know… It just seemed like a good nickname. I won't call you that if you don't like it," he stammered.

"I like it," Sholeh replied, softly smiling.

On Thursday of that week, Sholeh found a pack of daggers on the wall of the armory, and decided to try them in training that day. So instead of fighting against Percy with a sword, she chose the daggers. Percy and Annabeth laughed at her, saying that she couldn't possibly win when Percy had a sword.

"It won't hurt to try, though, will it?" Sholeh responded, and proceeded to the arena. Percy followed, laughing with Annabeth.

When they reached the stadium, Percy and Sholeh stood across from each other in battle position. Annabeth leaned over to whisper in Percy's ear, "Take it easy on her." He nodded and Annabeth yelled "Fight!"

Percy immediately lunged at Sholeh, but she sidestepped. The familiar pulse of adrenalin pounded in her ears, pushing her to move faster, strike harder, do better. And when Percy swung again, she ducked, then tripped him by pulling on his ankle. The sea god's son groaned from the pain of landing on a hard floor, but got up in the time Sholeh hesitated. Little did the two know that a group was gathering around them.

In a motion reminiscent of a snake, Sholeh grabbed Percy's arm as he tried to attack again. With surprising strength, Sholeh pushed his arm upwards until the sword faced away from her. In that time, Percy looked at her face. This was not the Sholeh he knew, who laughed and joked, but one who was merciless to the point of cruelty. Catching his eye, she smiled slowly before bringing her dagger up to his neck.

Breathing heavily, Sholeh whispered, "You would be dead now, if I wanted it." A look of maniacal power crossed over her face. _My will forced on his_, she thought, _how exhilarating_.

Percy knew where he had seen that look before. When she released him (he hadn't noticed that she held his shirt collar in her other hand) he landed again on the ground and pushed himself a few feet away from Sholeh. She heard him whisper a phrase under his breath before loudly saying, "Sholeh!"

She shook her head. She knew that word… it was her name. And Sholeh suddenly she was brought back to the world she didn't even know she had left. "My gods, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to… drop you on the floor."

"That's fine…. Um, that was really good fighting by the way. Really good. Like, amazing," he replied, making Sholeh blush slightly.

"That really was, Sholeh," agreed Annabeth. However, the demigods who had been watching the fight apparently did not concur. Sholeh could hear whispers of, 'she really scares me sometimes' and 'who the Hades is her parent, anyway?'

"Thanks," replied Sholeh. She suddenly wanted to get away from the other demigods, but when she heard one question who her parent was, she was reminded of what she wanted to ask her friends. "Um, can I talk to you two for a minute?" she asked, "Like, privately?"

"Sure," the two replied cautiously, and so they all headed off to the forest.

When the demigods arrived in a clearing of the South Woods, Percy began to question Sholeh. "Okay, what's this about?"

"Well, I was talking to some of the other demigods, and they said that they had been attacked by monsters all their lives. That hellhound outside my house when you found me, Percy, was the first one I've ever even seen. And I… well, I thought you might know why."

"We don't, Sholeh," Annabeth replied, but she spoke too fast. The other knew she was not telling the truth.

"You're lying," Sholeh said bluntly. How could they do this to her? _They know who I am_, she thought. _They probably even know who my parents are, or at least have a guess. Why won't they tell me?_ Sholeh fought for control of her emotions. She told herself to stay calm. _These are your friends; they must have a good reason for lying._ But an insistent voice in the back of her mind began to whisper sinisterly.

Annabeth began to insist that they did not know, but Percy cut her off. "We can't tell you, Sholeh. You don't know how much we want to, but--"

"NO! You're lying again. Neither of you give a damn about me, so just tell me who I am!" she screamed. Sholeh lost all power over her actions. They knew who she was, and Sholeh needed to find out.

"If you knew how lost I have been, for my entire life, you would tell me. Never knowing who I am, or why I lost control or why everything went so terribly wrong! And now, my two so-called 'friends' refuse to end this pain," she continued in a dangerous tone of voice. Percy and Annabeth began to back away.

"I hate you." she ended in an abrupt whisper. With this admission, all the trees in the clearing burst into flame, enclosing the three demigods in a circle of fire. Percy began to put out the burning trees with water, but the inferno continued to grow. The light reflected in Sholeh's eyes, giving her a hellish passionate look. And like in the arena, a dark smile lit up her face. Annabeth began yelling at her to stop the fire, but this time, her name could not find the Sholeh inside.

Suddenly, a warm hand rested on Sholeh's shoulder. It was warmth like the sun on a beautiful day, or the heat emanating from a fireplace. She spun around and met the chocolate brown eyes of her friend. Leo put both hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. They were fierce and wild, but he could see the lost girl inside. Sholeh snarled, "Don't touch me" and her hair began to glow white-hot. Strangely, it did not burst into flames, but became wiry like strands of copper.

Leo didn't move. He gazed unafraid into her eyes, before finally whispering, "Come back to me."

And as suddenly as the fires began, they disappeared. When the smoke cleared, Percy and Annabeth could see a crowd of demigods with Chiron and Mr. D just outside the glade. For the first time, Percy believed that he could see awe in the eyes of Dionysus, but the emotion vanished when the god started complaining that 'stupid half bloods, they just destroy everything.'

Sholeh collapsed into Leo's arms. "I'm so sorry," she said in a tortured voice. "I lost control…. I always destroy… and there's nothing I can do…"

He hushed her. "I will always be there for you, Firegirl," he replied, letting the girl simply breathe deeply into him.

A collective gasp rose from the assembled half bloods. For there, above Sholeh's head rose a signal. Fire and skull intertwined floated over the girl close to tears and unconsciousness.

"Hail Sholeh, daughter of Hades and Hestia," proclaimed Chiron, but it was obvious that the centaur was just as intimidated as the rest of the demigods.

Looking up, Sholeh saw the sign. "That's not cool," she whispered to Leo.

"What, firegirl?"

"Neither of my parents has a cabin," she replied. Leo looked down to meet her eyes. She was grinning from ear to ear, but in her eyes there was only sadness. Leo lifted the now unconscious girl and brought Sholeh away from the scene of her destruction.


	4. I tend to confuse my pronouns

**CHAPTER 4: I TEND TO CONFUSE MY PRONOUNS**

Camp Half Blood was ablaze, spurred by gossip and questions. Demigods spoke of one thing only; Sholeh's claiming. Many thought she was unfit to be a daughter of the Big Three, while others believed she was a goddess. At the same time, a quiet feeling of desolation passed over camp, especially when Lynn of Cabin Eleven recounted her conversation with Sholeh the first night she came to camp. When Lynn told others how Sholeh said she didn't know if she would save Olympus, one thought came to the demigods, which was 'We're screwed.'

The girl in question woke up three days after her destruction of the forest. Staring around, Sholeh saw that she was alone again in the medical cabin. Disappointment washed over her. She didn't know whom she had been expecting to see, but thought that someone should have been there.

Light suddenly blinded her. Moving her hand to shield her eyes, Sholeh looked up to see the source and was surprised to see a mass of silver at the foot of her bed. Moving closer, her muscles ached in agony, but her determination was not to be deterred. There lay a celestial bronze dagger in its sheath and a silver bracelet. They were tied together with black, shining ribbon, which seemed to have been hastily tied into a bow. On top of the bundle lay a note made of expensive looking, thick black, paper. It was addressed to 'Sholeh Prometheus' so the girl opened it, though her foster parents' surname was conspicuously missing. The writing was jagged and small in silver ink, so that Sholeh had to squint to read it.

Daughter-

Please accept the dagger and bracelet as a gift from myself. I hope that you like them. My wife chose the bracelet, as I do not have as excellent taste as she. The dagger is celestial bronze, and is from my private treasury. I believe that it was a favorite of your namesake, Prometheus.  
On this note, as you have appropriately disowned your mortal family, your last name shall take after mine. Therefore, I suggest Hadeva.  
Sholeh, do not forget the importance of names. I know that you will live up to yours.  
Train hard. I wish you to regain the time lost by not spending it at Camp. The son of Poseidon has had years more than yourself there, but work harder than Perseus and you will easily surpass him.

Hades

The letter had a cold tone only to be expected from the Lord of the Dead but Sholeh found his suggestions arrogant. Here was a father she had never even seen, who she didn't even know _existed_ until a few days ago, and suddenly he decided to play Daddy? Throwing the letter in the trash bin disgustedly, she decided to take no last name, especially not one that would remind everyone of her utter isolation as Hades' daughter.

She was wondering why the letter held no mention of her mother, when someone burst into her room.

"Thank the gods!" exclaimed Leo. "Chiron! She's awake," he proceeded to yell to the centaur, who was presumably somewhere outside the cabin. The boy dashed over to her bed and sat down. "Stop doing that!" he commanded her furiously.

"Doing what?" Sholeh asked, puzzled.

"Well, let's see. I don't know…Passing out?!" Leo replied, as if it were perfectly obvious. "Not waking up for days? I didn't know what the Hades was going on. Chiron had to call my dad, you know, to see if you were all right."

"Well, I'm sorry if the agonizing pain I experienced after burning down most of a forest inconvenienced you," she replied sarcastically. Leo, however, missed the joke.

"_Di immortales_! Lie down, now, firegirl." He seemed shocked. Leo pushed her backwards into the bed and ran to get ambrosia.

"Leo! I'm fine," Sholeh replied, grinning at his mistake.

"Holy Zeus. Stop doing that!" he sat down on the bed next to her, and put his head in his hands. Running his fingers through his hair, Leo tried to take deep, calming inhales, but he never seemed to be able to catch his breath around her.

"Okay," he said, looking at her face once again, "No more jokes," he ordered.

"Alright. I'll be completely serious all the time," Sholeh deadpanned.

"More importantly, no more scaring me to Hades and back," he added, looking once more at the ground.

"Leo." Sholeh said, tapping him on the shoulder. He abruptly turned to look her in the eyes. She beamed at him before saying simply, "Chill."

"Chill!" Chill?" Leo really lost it. Standing up, he continued yelling, pointing at her accusingly. "Okay, you burn down the entire South Woods, and you're telling _me_ to chill?" Sholeh burst out laughing. It really was a hilarious picture, seeing her friend who was normally so controlled, pacing around the room, golden hair across his face.

"Stop laughing," he told her, stopping to stare at the girl who simply wouldn't do as she was told. "Just… stop everything. That's it. I'm locking you in this cabin forever. No more being in danger for you."

Sholeh just laughed harder, seeing that he wasn't joking. Leo looked like he was about to implode, when Chiron calmly walked (trotted, really) into the room. Sholeh finally stopped chuckling, seeing the grave expression on the centaur's face.

"Sholeh," he chided. "You are going to give poor Leo here a heart attack. He's barely slept or ate in the past three days. He practically ordered his father here to check on you."

Sholeh gave the boy, who now looked very uncomfortable, a questioning look. "Excuse me, Leo, but 'Chiron had to call your dad?' I seem to recall you saying that."

"Yes, well, in stressful times I tend to confuse my pronouns," replied Leo sarcastically. He looked to Sholeh who was gazing at him expectantly and sighed. "I was worried. You weren't waking up."

"Worried? I have lived for thousands of years, and that is one of the greatest understatements I have ever heard," whinnied Chiron. Unexpectedly, Sholeh and Leo began to giggle at this. The tension in the air quickly dissolved as the two collapsed on the bed, howling with laughter until they ran out of oxygen.

"I… can't… breathe," said Sholeh amidst her gasps and laughter.

"Neither… can… I," replied Leo. He abruptly stopped laughing and stared at the girl. A grin slowly spread across his face.

"No, Leo," warned Sholeh, before recoiling in fear, but she was too slow. The boy remorselessly began to tickle her until she begged for mercy. Chiron watched them with a quiet smile on his face.

When the two demigods finally stopped, the centaur shook his head. "I'm very sorry to disrupt this happy reunion, but there are very serious matters we must discuss, Sholeh."

"Okay," she responded, the smile waning from her face.

"Leo, I think that there is work, or training for you to do—" Chiron began, but Sholeh cut him off.

"Whatever you have to say to me, you will just have to say to Leo, too," she replied, looking first at Chiron, then at Leo. The boy was amazed by her trust, and at the same time, a little afraid of it. Was he worthy of this complete faith? Leo doubted it, but he would try.

Chiron nodded, as if he expected that. "Very well then. First off, I believe that I have some explaining to do. Percy and Annabeth told me that you were angry that they wouldn't tell you why you'd never seen monsters. That was my fault," the centaur began.

"I believed that if you didn't know about your past, we might be able to postpone the prophecy. Clearly, I was wrong, and your parents forced me to concede that by claiming you. I wanted to wait until you were claimed to tell you this."

"The reason that you have not seen monsters before, is simple. A godly force has protected you. Or rather, not godly, but a Titan's force. Kronos' influence has protected you all your life from the monsters demigods usually face."

At this, Sholeh and Leo both gasped. "That's impossible," breathed the boy.

"Sadly, it is both possible and entirely plausible. That is why Apollo was present when Percy and Grover found you, Sholeh. Lord Zeus wanted him to confirm our suspicions, which he did."

Leo voiced the exact thought in Sholeh's mind. She was much to astonished and afraid to even speak. "But… why would he want to do this?"

Chiron sighed, "We think that it was to ensure you survived to the age of sixteen. This protection had yet another effect, however. It prevented you from becoming a minor goddess."

The centaur continued, "Sometimes, the godly parents of a child will wish the child to prove himself before becoming a god himself. Mr. D is one such example; he was a son of Zeus and Semele, who after inventing wine, was granted godhood."

"However, the protection of Kronos prevented you, Sholeh, from becoming a goddess."

"Because I would need to be a demigod, and not full goddess, for the prophecy to come true," replied Sholeh, speaking as if in a trance.

"Correct," replied Chiron. Leo, his face set in a frown and fists clenched, looked at Sholeh. He started to speak, but stopped.

"Now I believe I must tell the story of your birth, Sholeh. Because Hestia is a virgin goddess, she obviously did not conceive in the usual… ahem… way. Like sons daughters of Athena, you were born from her thoughts. Unlike Athena's children, you were not only born from Lady Hestia's mind, but from fire and sulfur as well; these being the sacred symbols of your parents." Chiron finished telling Sholeh about her past and there was a moment of silence.

"Now, I believe Sholeh needs to rest. And you, Leo, need to eat something." The son of Apollo began to protest, but Chiron silenced him with a glare.

"Okay, fine," Leo conceded, then looked at Sholeh. "Firegirl, go to sleep. As soon as you wake up and feel fit enough to walk, come meet me at the tree by the mess hall," he said, looking into Sholeh's deep blue eyes. She looked at him, lost for words, but Chiron was already dragging Leo out of the room. He darted back to squeeze his 'firegirl's' hand and Chiron picked him up by the neck to throw him out of the medical cabin.

Sholeh sat there for what seemed like hours, but was the course of a few minutes. Thoughts swirled in her head like a cyclone._ Protected by Kronos_, she thought, _I wanted to know my past, and now I do_. Remembering the old adage, 'Be careful what you wish for,' Sholeh thought that there had never been such an appropriate time for its use. With a sigh, the girl put on the silver bracelet from her father, and lay down, her eyelids already closed from exhaustion. Her chest ached dully, a reminder of the tickle fight, and Sholeh grinned in memory of the mischievious expression on Leo's face. The last thought to cross her mind before falling into a deep sleep was, _I'm so lucky to have Leo as my best friend._

* * *

Sholeh woke up a couple of hours later with a gnawing hunger in her stomach. _I think it's time to take Leo up on his offer to meet by the mess hall._ Standing up, the girl nearly fainted again from dehydration. After taking a long drink from a bottle of water on the medicine cabinet, Sholeh dressed in black skinny jeans and her orange Camp Half Blood tee shirt.

When reaching for the doorknob, she noticed the silver bracelet and began to carefully inspect it. The bracelet was a simple and small band, but in the center glowed the reddest ruby Sholeh had ever seen. Shrugging, she went to open the door, but as an afterthought, grabbed the dagger and a band immediately formed around her waist, tying the dagger and its sheath to her.

Upon reaching the tree Leo had told her to meet him, Sholeh leaned up against it to see her friend coming out of the mess hall. Leo was gnawing ravenously on a piece of toast covered in orange marmalade. Leo grinned and began to walk over to her.

A group of love struck girls stood by the mess hall as well. It was only last week that the Aphrodite cabin had given Leo the coveted title of 'Camp Half Blood's Most Eligible Bachelor' and the boy literally had swarms of admirers.

These particular girls sighed dramatically as he went by and one yelled out his name. When he turned around, she noticeably batted her eyelashes and waved so flirtatiously, Sholeh thought she was going to be sick.

Leo, like his father, loved the attention. "Hey, girls," he simply said to them and winked. Two actually fainted. Sholeh just rolled her eyes.

"Leo! If you could spare a minute from your fan club, I wanted to talk to you," Sholeh yelled impatiently, annoyed at him, though she didn't know why. Leo spun around and walked briskly to the girl.

"Are you all right?" he said anxiously, grabbing her hands in his and looking her up and down. "No more fainting? You can walk fine?"

"Well, hello there, Casanova," Sholeh replied sarcastically, ignoring his questions. _Obviously, I'm fine_, _Leo_. _I survived a strong urged to vomit after seeing your fan club, didn't I?... Wait, why do I care who he flirts with?_ Sholeh shook her head as if to shake the troublesome thoughts away. "I actually like that name for you. It's official. I now have a nickname for you."

Leo grinned. "Well, I can't just not say hello to them," he said, referring to the girls Sholeh dubbed his 'fan club'. "Plus, I need to give them _something_ to talk about. Hmm… Casanova," he mused, trying out the name thoughtfully.

"Oh, trust me, they talk about you all the time. When I was in Cabin Eleven, honestly, their favorite pastime was discussing your favorite color, middle name, or where you live. It was pretty sketchy."

Leo looked taken aback. "That is very creepy. Did they actually know stuff about me?"

"No. Most of it was wrong. I mean, one of _them_," she gestured at the crowd, "thought that your full name was 'Leonardo Stanwick James II Eliot.'"

"Um, its definitely not," he replied, glancing a little nervously at the girls. "Did you talk about me?" Leo asked cautiously.

"Yeah." Sholeh grinned.

"Well… what did you say?"

"I said you were the most arrogant, pompous," with each adjective the girl inched forward, poking Leo in the stomach. He looked down into her eyes and she continued, "… selfish, obnoxious human being it has ever been my displeasure to meet," she concluded.

"Well, technically, I'm only half human," Leo countered, with a grin equal to hers. He was several inches taller than his friend, so the boy was smiling down at her. "You forget that I'm half," he paused for dramatic effect before continuing with a grand motion of his arms, "god!"

Looking over Leo's shoulder, Sholeh saw the flirting girls with shocked, scandalized expressions. She simply grinned and pointed them out to Leo, who surprised himself by how reluctantly he tore his gaze away from Sholeh.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" the boy asked.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I've found a place to live."

"Really?" Leo asked. He had often thought over the past three days about where Sholeh was going to live. Hopefully, it wasn't someplace dangerous and isolated like the cabin Nico lived in, deep inside the North Woods….

"Nico's cabin in the North Woods," Sholeh announced cheerfully. "I saw him just now, when I was walking here, and he offered that I live there—"

"No way, firegirl. There is no way in Hades, I am going to let you live there," Leo announced resolutely.

"Why not? And since when did you become my mother?' she asked, annoyed.

"Since… well, since… hey, I'm not your mother! I'm just being a responsible friend, is all!" Leo exclaimed, but he thought, a friend? Yeah, right. You're kidding yourself, Leo.

The two stared at each other, arms crossed and unmoving. Suddenly, Sholeh grabbed Leo's hand and began to run. Leo was dragged behind for a while until he hastened to catch up with the girl.

"Where the Hades are we going?" he asked, surprised.

"It's a surprise," she replied. "You'll just have to trust me."

"Don't make me tickle you," Leo mock threatened her.

"Okay, fine," Sholeh gave up, but not before adding, "Meanie," to which Leo scoffed. "We're going to the beach!"

"Neither of us have bathing suits," the boy protested.

"Speak for yourself. I'm wearing mine. Anyway, what's your point? Be spontaneous for a minute, will you Casanova? Don't you think your fan club would like to see you with a dripping wet shirt, or no shirt at all?" Sholeh grinned at him and slowed her speed to walking pace.

"Fine. But if anyone asks, this was not my choice," Leo conceded.

"What, your reputation will be destroyed if you ever have fun?" Sholeh sarcastically asked, but the beach suddenly came into sight.

"Race you!" the girl exclaimed, taking off sprinting. She arrived at Fireworks Beach a good five hundred feet ahead of Leo because athletic activity wasn't exactly what the boy was known for. In fact, the only shred of athleticism he had was in archery.

"You had a head start," Leo whined when she laughed at him.

"Boo hoo," she replied sarcastically, peeling off her shirt to reveal a red bikini top. Leo was entranced by her simple motions and stood there watching, until an idea came to him.

Silently creeping up behind Sholeh, he then swept her up in her arms and began running to the water. Leo nearly dropped her four times- somehow, it wasn't as easy as it looked in the movies. The girl shrieked and pounded Leo with her fists, but he only grinned. Then, reaching the water, he tossed her in.

Sholeh yelped at the freezing water and pushed wet hair out of her eyes. "Not fair! I wasn't even done changing!"

He smirked. "Well, you had a head start."

"Get in here, Casanova!" she cried. Leo pulled off his shirt and jumped in.

"Will you stop calling me that?" he asked Sholeh, after spitting salt water out of his mouth.

"Fine. But if you start to flirt with more than five girls at once, I may have no choice but to continue the nickname's use," Sholeh joked.

"It's a deal," Leo agreed, and the two solemnly shook hands, before bursting out laughing.

When Sholeh caught her breath, she addressed Leo, who was lying on his back, squirting water out of his mouth like a fountain. "You are officially my best friend," she said in a mock-dignified tone.

_But if only I could be more_, thought Leo before he could stop himself. He half-heartedly told himself that Sholeh's friendship was worth more than a relationship that could never happen, and said seriously to the girl, "And you're mine."

* * *

A camper from Athena cabin (Sholeh believed her name to be Jennifer), ran up to the two demigods on the beach. Sholeh and Leo were lying in the sand, wearing sunglasses, and drinking fruit juice. Jennifer didn't know where they had gotten the fruit juice, but forgot about it while staring at Leo.

"You wanted to tell us something?" asked Leo, thoroughly enjoying the girl's awestruck reaction. Sholeh just rolled her eyes. "Yes, excuse me, um… Jennifer?" he spoke, and the daughter of Athena was woken from her daydreaming.

"Yeah, of course, so sorry," she replied, shaking her head. "Leo, you and what's-her-face are wanted at Athena cabin…" the girl was cut off by Leo, who stood up angrily.

"Sholeh has a name," he spoke furiously, and took off his sunglasses to glare at Jennifer. "I would appreciate it if you would show my friend enough respect to refer to her by it." The girl looked terrified and instantly remorseful.

"I'm so, so sorry, Leo!"

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Sholeh," he ordered as Sholeh, watched the interaction with a smile, although she was very confused.

"Sorry, Sholeh," the girl said grudgingly. "Um, Percy and Annabeth are having a fight, and we're afraid that they'll… well… destroy the cabin."

"That's stupid," replied Sholeh and stood up. "Percy and Annabeth aren't going to destroy anyone's cabin. They're normal people. For the most part."

"Oh, no, if you saw them, you would think that, too," the girl said. "Silena sort of, kissed Percy. He didn't want her to, but well, you can imagine Annabeth's reaction."

Leo paled. A son of Poseidon and a daughter of Athena, who secretly liked each other, fighting? Sholeh saw the drastic change of color in her friend's face and laughed.

"You aren't scared, are you, Casanova?" she asked, grinning, and beginning to walk to the cabins.

"Of course not!" Leo scoffed. "I'm just… well… can you imagine?"

"Yes, I can," replied the girl calmly. "Haven't you seen this coming? All that tension was bound to flare up eventually, Casanova."

"Don't. Call. Me. That!" Leo yelled, frustrated at the girl who just laughed in his face. They walked in companionable silence for the next minutes, and Leo thought about what Percy and Annabeth's fight could mean._ Maybe_, he pondered, _if they have a chance at a relationship, so do we…. No, _he corrected himself_, I'm just a friend and 'Casanova' to her. Of all the girls, Leo, why do you have to fall for this one? I'm her best friend, but a silly flirt nonetheless. Just like my father_, he thought bitterly. For the first time Leo resented being a son of Apollo, and it was because of the only girl he could not have.

Reaching the Athena cabin, Leo and Sholeh immediately saw why Jennifer had been so afraid of the fight. Or rather, they heard why. From a hundred of feet away. The two clashing demigods, although in the Athena cabin, were screaming loud enough to wake the dead. A large, but fearful crowd had assembled around the cabin, though they were standing as far away as they believed safe.

Sholeh could make out the sounds of Annabeth yelling, "How could you do this and then lie to me!" Something made of glass was thrown at a wall, probably missing Percy's head by mere inches.

"Oh, gods," breathed Leo.

"Indeed," agreed Chiron. The demigods did not know when the centaur had arrived, but many of the younger ones cowered behind him for protection. "Sholeh, I think you should go in there. You seem to have experience with, let's say, meltdowns."

The girl nodded and approached the cabin. "If I don't return in an hour, just go on without me," she said dramatically to Leo, who pushed through the crowd to talk to the girl.

"What, too cliché? I thought this moment needed a movie line, for, you know, comic relief," Sholeh joked.

"Be careful," warned Leo gravely.

"You too? See, I thought someone else might see the film parallels going on here—" Sholeh laughed and proceeded to climb the stairs, but Leo grabbed her arm. Sholeh turned slowly and Leo looked straight into Sholeh's dark eyes.

"I'm serious. Just… don't do anything stupid, or dangerous."

"When do I ever, Leo?" replied the girl. He stared at her with a look that very blatantly said, 'Yes.' She eased Leo's hand off her arm, and walked up the remaining step. "Come on; they're our friends, Leo. What are they going to do?"

* * *

Sholeh walked out an hour later, with her orange tee shirt ripped and hair a complete mess. She looked exhausted, but triumphant. The waiting crowd held its breath, waiting for something to happen. It was only then that they noticed the shouting had stopped.

"I told you, Sholeh," Leo scolded, "Look at yourself. Honestly." Despite his arrogant words, Leo was visibly relieved. Monsters were not the only dangerous ones; demigods themselves could be violent from fighting all the time. This applied especially to children of the Big Three. All the godly power inside a mortal's body could manifest itself in different ways, and they were not always safe.

"Thanks, Casanova," she replied, and before Leo could protest, she declared, "I give you… Percabeth!" Sholeh pulled the door open to reveal Percy and Annabeth, kissing passionately.

The girl jumped down to Leo, who was waiting for her with a look of awe on his face. "Am I good or what?" Sholeh joked. She called out to the children of Apollo, who sat writing poetry about the new couple. "I think this moment deserves a song, guys!"

Apollo's kids immediately started playing 'Time of the Season' by The Zombies. Leo began to sing, perfectly imitating the lead singer's voice. Sholeh danced to the music and the group processed down the path to the Mess Hall.

Sholeh joined in with Leo for the chorus, "It's the time of the season for loving." The girl sang horribly out of tune, but no one, least of all the new couple, noticed. Percy and Annabeth were much too busy kissing as if they were about to go to war.


	5. Blue Ice and a Burning Heart

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 5: BLUE ICE AND A BURNING HEART**

After many more choruses of 'Time of the Season,' Chiron told the group that they should stop singing. Or rather, ordered them to stop. So, with a disappointed sigh, the group disbanded to go to their respective cabins.

"So, firegirl, where will you stay tonight?" asked Leo, pretending that he hadn't heard her decision before.

"I told you, Nico's cabin—"

"And I told you, there is no way you are going to live there. I've seen it, Sholeh. Nico's cabin is gloomy, and dark, and isolated. It's so far in the North Woods, no one would even know if something went wrong!" Leo exclaimed. Seeing Sholeh's frown, he suddenly regretted this speech. He wanted to make her laugh, but his protectiveness made Sholeh do the opposite. _Well, how else am I supposed to keep her out of danger? _he thought.

"Well, it is technically Hades cabin," the girl protested.

"That doesn't mean that you have to live there," Leo countered.

"Oh, you're right," Sholeh replied sarcastically. "Since Hades is my dad, that totally doesn't mean I'm supposed to live in Hades cabin! Silly me!"

"Okay, that's not funny," objected Leo. Sholeh just stared at him angrily, arms crossed. He couldn't stand it when she was angry. Sighing, he spoke again. "Well, what if we built a new Hades cabin tomorrow?"

"Where?" she asked, astounded, but with a smile on her face. It was infectious, and Leo found himself smiling too.

"Across from Zeus and Hera's, down at the end of the row," he replied. "I know that Hades isn't really an Olympian, but he's still a hugely important god. Plus, I will not have you living in that awful cabin in the woods."

"Thank you, Leo!" she exclaimed and immediately threw her arms around his waist in a hug. _Oh my gods_, thought Leo, _what is this girl doing to me?_, but he returned the hug all the same.

"Wait," Sholeh released him and took a few steps back, "Where will I stay tonight then?"

Leo ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. _I'm going to regret this_, he thought. "You can stay in Apollo cabin."

"Really?" Sholeh asked, with a smile on her face. "You're sure no one will mind?"

"I'll make them an offer they can't refuse," Leo replied, imitating the Godfather's sinister voice. Sholeh burst out laughing; _her beautiful laugh_, thought Leo, _just like the rest of her. _

The girl sprinted away to get her remaining things from the Medical Cabin, leaving Leo standing breathless. Everywhere she had touched him burned, and he closed his eyes. _Yes_, said a cool, but attractive voice in his head. It was certainly not his thought, but seemed to be a foreign entity. _Do you see it yet, dear? It's lo-- _Leo violently pushed the someone out of his mind before they could finish.

Reaching Apollo cabin with her possessions, Sholeh opened the door to see an unparalleled sight. The entire inside of the cabin was filled with paint canvases, poetry books, pencils, paintbrushes, surgical tools, string instruments, bows, arrows, and even a stage. Everywhere, Apollo's kids were rushing around doing their various artistic activities and arguing over paint, costumes, or a cello.

"Sholeh!" Leo yelled. He was sitting on a bunk with his guitar that was covered in music paper, all of which had notes hastily scribbled on it. Even from the distance, Sholeh could spot a pile of Leo's music named 'Symphony in F-sharp minor' that looked very difficult and complex.

Sholeh entered the room and silence suddenly fell. Finally one of Apollo's daughters, Kitty, spoke up. "Leo, what is _she_ doing here?"

The boy stood up and walked over to help Sholeh with her things. "She's staying here tonight," Leo said coolly. His half brothers and sisters began to protest but he raised his hand to silence them and said, "Deal with it."

Sholeh was amazed at the authoritative tone of his voice. And what's more, the other kids listened to him explicitly.

Suddenly, a crowd gathered around Sholeh. "Can you act?" one girl asked eagerly.

"Only very badly," she replied, taken aback.

"What about painting? Can you do that?" a son of Apollo requested impatiently.

"Nope."

"Can you play a musical instrument?"

"I used to play violin, but I quit," Sholeh said, uncomfortable under the kids' gaze and inquisition.

"Holy Apollo, what a waste of space you are then," one grumbled.

"I guess she can model for a picture," one girl replied half-heartedly.

"Guys! Is that anyone to treat a guest?" Leo scolded.

"We're not Hermes cabin," one of his many half-brothers protested. "We don't open up the doors for any passerby the counselor happens to be in lo--"

"Well, that's just too bad. Sholeh is my guest," countered Leo, interrupting the boy before he could reveal Leo's secret. He looked around for an empty bunk in which his friend could sleep, and found none.

"Bobby, Sholeh will be taking your bunk," he commanded. The boy grumbled, but cleared the bed so the girl could sleep there.

"Leo, no!" Sholeh protested. "I'll sleep on the floor! Put your stuff back on the bed," she ordered Bobby. He did so.

"No! You're not sleeping on the floor, firegirl! Clean off that bunk, Bobby!" Leo instructed the boy again, who did as he was told.

"I am not going to inconvenience anyone more than I already am," Sholeh replied, exasperated, and looked up into Leo's eyes. She crossed her arms, a signal that she wasn't going to give up. They stared at each other for another minute, unmoving.

"Fine," conceded Leo. "Have it your way," the boy grumbled. Sholeh grinned and began to unpack a blanket and pillow onto the floor.

"What are you all looking at?" Leo asked the other kids, who stood awestruck. No one _ever_ openly went against their counselor. "Lights out!" he called, annoyed. There was a collective groan, but Apollo's children followed Leo's order.

Leo fell into bed, exhausted, and Sholeh lay down on the floor. The other kids turned off the light and all got into their beds, but continued talking about their latest plays, poetry, or music.

"Hey!" Leo yelled. "All of you, can it! I haven't gotten much sleep in the past four days because someone was unconscious," he grumbled. Sholeh couldn't see the boy, but she knew that he would be glaring at her.

"Just because I passed out didn't mean you had to give up sleeping, Leo," she laughed, before falling asleep. Leo stayed up, thinking about the day, and more importantly, the girl with whom he had spent it.

"Leo?" a tiny voice emerged from the darkness, hours later that night. Leo had just fallen asleep, and was reluctant to awake until he recognized the voice.

"Yeah, firegirl?" he replied, wanting to know what was wrong.

"I overestimated how comfortable the floor would be," she whispered. "And I'm cold."

"Okay," Leo said, moving farther over on the bed and grabbing Sholeh's hand. He pulled her towards his bunk in the darkness and she lay down next to him. His mind raced, having this girl so close to him. Cautiously, Leo put his arm around her.

"Thanks, Casanova," she whispered and snuggled closer. "I was going to suggest you order Bobby out of his bed, but this is much better." He was too happy to care about the nickname.

That morning, Leo awoke to forty faces peering down at him. He let out a yell and sat up abruptly. "What the Hades are you all doing?" he asked annoyed.

"Shhhh," one warned, "You'll wake her up. And you guys are so cute together." Leo turned to notice Sholeh who was sleeping next to him. She wore a simple red tank top and black pajama shorts. Her hair was a mess, but Leo didn't think he had ever seen someone as beautiful. Thankfully, Leo didn't notice that he wasn't wearing a shirt; because he would have been terribly awkward. He shooed the other children of Apollo away and put his arm around Sholeh again.

Unfortunately, Sholeh woke up at this motion. "Whaa--" she began, in the tired and scratchy voice of someone who just woke up. Leo just smiled, and the girl smiled back. "Good morning, Casanova."

"Good morning, firegirl."

"I guess I have to get up," she replied, and sat up to stretch. "Oh my gods, I have to train, its already Friday!"

"Sholeh, it's Tuesday."

"What do you mean?" Sholeh asked, confused. Then she realized that she had been unconscious for longer than she thought. "Oh, I missed Capture The Flag," she said, disappointed.

"We lost without you, if it's any consolation," Leo said comfortingly, still lying in bed. He wanted Sholeh to lie back down beside him, but knew that it wouldn't happen, so he got up and stomped off to the bathroom in frustration.

"What's his problem?" Sholeh asked Bobby, who flashed her a knowing smile before rushing off to practice his clarinet.

Reaching the arena, Sholeh immediately saw Percy and Annabeth talking under a tree and ran over to them. The girl sat down, and seeing that the two were holding hands, asked, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"No, Sholeh," Annabeth replied with a wide smile, "Are you feeling better?"

"I'm fine," huffed the girl. "Everyone keeps asking me that. Especially Leo. He's been so overprotective, lately."

Percy and Annabeth just grinned at each other. "Really?" asked Percy finally. It was clear that he was much more interested in his girlfriend than in the conversation.

"Yeah, but we're going to build a Hades cabin today, along with Nico and some of his half-siblings." No response.

"Earth to Percy and Annabeth," Sholeh joked. "Come in, Percy and Annabeth." The two demigods just leaned up against each other.

Annabeth finally said, "That's great, Sholeh," though she obviously had no idea what Sholeh was saying. Sholeh just grinned and stood up.

"Okay, I'm going to go burn down the Camp now," said Sholeh.

"Okay, you do that," replied Percy, and told Annabeth a corny joke, which she found hilarious. Rolling her eyes, Sholeh grumbled that the two were hopeless. She then caught sight of Leo, and ran over to speak with someone who would actually listen to her.

"Hey, Casanova!" Sholeh said happily.

"I thought we had a deal about that nickname," protested Leo.

"Ooops," said Sholeh, grinning. "I forgot. It's just so catchy. Anyway, Leo, what was with this morning?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, blushing. _Oh gods,_ he thought, _she's going to ask why I had my arm around her… she probably already knows why._

"You just stormed off into the bathroom!" Leo gave a sigh of relief. "And I thought that you were going to help Nico and me build a cabin!"

"I am," he protested. "I'm just not a morning person." _Well, Leo, that's a total lie_, he thought to himself. "Come on, let's go get Nico," Leo said, turning around.

"Whoa!" Leo yelled, because right in front of him was Nico. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry," replied Nico, though he didn't sound it. Generally, Nico and Leo didn't like each other. Nico thought that Leo was a stupid flirt, and Leo thought that Nico was just plain creepy.

"Oh look, the gang's all here," said Sholeh happily. She had recruited most of Hephaestus cabin to help her. The Hephaestus kids simply adored Sholeh because of her ability to control fire. They often wanted her to work the bellows for them, and now would pay her back.

After hours of trying in vain to help build the cabin, Sholeh discovered that it would be simply better for her to let the Hephaestus kids to take over. She had already dropped a hammer on Percy's foot (luckily he was wearing shoes), set the cabin on fire, and annoyed Leo by calling him Casanova again.

So instead, the girl sat down and watched the work. Annabeth had eagerly agreed to design Hades cabin, but kept getting distracted by Percy. Sholeh finally had to threaten to burn them both alive to get any work done at all. However, the end product was fantastic. The cabin would be made of black obsidian on the outside and simple white walls on the inside. Hades' daughter liked the white walls so that she could decorate the inside any way she wanted. There was room for at least six bunks and it had a fireplace for Sholeh. It looked modern, yet beautiful. Now, the finishing touches were being put on.

Leo, exhausted, sat down next to Sholeh. "Hey, firegirl," he said casually, and poured lemonade for them both from the pitcher, provided by Annabeth. "Like how the cabin is turning out?"

After taking a sip of lemonade, Sholeh replied, "I love it! The Hephaestus kids really are amazing."

"Yeah," Leo agreed.

Sholeh suddenly had an urge to lean upon her friend. So she crawled closer to Leo, and cautiously laid her head upon his shoulder. For some reason, she shivered in the warm air. _I hope he doesn't mind,_ Sholeh thought.

One hour later, Hades cabin was finished. Nico and Sholeh had begun moving their things into it, when all of a sudden, thunder crashed and lighting struck from overhead.

"Zeus is obviously not happy," said Nico in a worried tone.

Sholeh, on the other hand, was furious. The twelve Olympians wanted to treat her and Nico like they didn't exist. _Well, it's time for them to get a reality check_, she thought viciously and ran outside into the pouring rain.

"Hey you!" she snarled at the sky. Sholeh could feel her hair turning white hot and wiry from anger. Small fires started at her feet, scorching the grass, and resisting the rain that tried to extinguish them.

"Hades is your _brother_, Zeus! He may not live on Olympus, but without him, what would happen? Chaos would reign; the living and dead would constantly be at odds!"

"I am his daughter; your niece! Just like any other demigod here, I want a place to live to be safe! And, I want to train to protect _you_!"

"So just deal with it!" she screamed. Rage boiled up inside of her as the heavens shook. The ground began to quake, but the lone girl stood unafraid in the pouring rain, lightning flashing around her. Sholeh's hair glowed ice-blue with heat, like the fire on a stove, and her figure was strong, defiant.

A lone and brilliantly shining lightning bolt shot down to earth and Sholeh. Leo, watching the girl's fight with the gods, sprinted towards her. Time seemed to slow to a standstill as the electricity shot down to strike the rebellious daughter of Hades and Hestia.

_Gods,_ Leo thought in panic. In that one moment, he invoked Zeus and Hera for pity_. Father Apollo, please, save Sholeh for my sake._ He prayed to the twelve Olympians feverishly as he ran, knowing that he could not possibly reach Sholeh in time. _Hades, save your daughter! _ he finally screamed out in his mind.

Out of this prayer, a miracle began. Just as Zeus' lightning and wrath was about to strike the girl, a huge black-robed figure appeared in front of her. The bolt of electricity struck the mysterious form, with no effect on him. Leo knew that he had indeed summoned the Lord of the Dead.

Lord Hades spun around to see his daughter. She looked just as stubbornly at him, though his eyes burned terrifyingly red. Leo could have sworn that he saw a smile appear on Hades' face before the god vanished, leaving behind the faint odor of brimstone.

"Sholeh!" Leo called out as he ran towards the girl. She looked dazed and lost as Leo put his arm around her to walk her into Hades cabin.

After sitting Sholeh down on her bed, Leo sat there, gazing at the girl. _I could have lost her_, he thought with terror, _I was so close to losing her forever_. _To never see her smile again, never make firegirl laugh._ Leo decided that he would be sacrificing his next meal entirely to Lord Hades.

Sholeh, however sat on the bed and closed her eyes. She wanted to escape from the events of the day. Though back outside, she had refused to back down from Zeus, the truth was that she had been scared witless. Only her competitive nature had kept her from running back to the safety of the cabin and Leo.

"Sholeh," Leo asked quietly, touching the girl on the shoulder, "Are you all right?" He fought the urge to yell, _what were you thinking?_

"No."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Gods! Then how am I supposed to help you?"

"I don't need any help." Sholeh regretted pushing Leo away, but at the same time, didn't even want to think about what had happened. Her pulse raced and thoughts rushed through her mind. She felt overwhelmed, and just wanted to be alone; to forgot everything.

Leo's frustration increased greatly. He had almost lost Sholeh, and there would have been nothing he could do about it. _And now she won't even talk to me_. "Why are you shoving me away, firegirl?" he asked sadly. Sholeh didn't answer.

Finally, Leo couldn't stand it anymore. "Fine! Go ahead and get yourself killed. See if I care!" he yelled and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

On the bed, silent tears ran down Sholeh's face. She wanted to call Leo back, to apologize, and feel his strong arms around her. But her body was paralyzed by the lingering fear and so she sat there, watched by her half-brother.

Leo stood outside, looking up at the sky and rain soaking him to the core. His golden hair was plastered to his face and his clothes clung to his body. He began to shiver in the icy air, but its coldness could do nothing for his burning heart. Before walking to his own cabin, Leo whispered, "I'm sorry," to the girl he knew couldn't hear him.


	6. The Lion

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 6: THE LION**

That night, Sholeh didn't fall asleep until very late. Try as she might, she couldn't forget what had happened. The pictures of Zeus' lighting bolt and Leo's angry and hurt face continued to haunt her. Nico tried to comfort her, but didn't know what to say. His intentions were good, however, and Sholeh appreciated.

"Uh, Sholeh?"

"What, Nico?"

"You can… uh, talk to me anytime. I mean, my sister, Bianca… died a while ago, so I mean, I might be able to help."

"You think Leo's going to die?"

"No, I well, just know how it feels to lose someone. I dunno, just… I'm here. And I obviously know what its like to be a child of Hades."

"Thanks, Nico," Sholeh meant the sentiment sincerely, but it came out in a sarcastic tone. She repeated the phrase again, with a softer and more genuine sound, turned over on her bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, it was drizzling lightly outside, a vestige of Zeus' anger, and the sky still undulated with thunderclouds. It seemed that a storm was about to erupt at any minute. Sholeh woke early, much earlier than her half brother, got dressed and ran outside. She ran to the mess hall and ate quickly, alone at the table in the back reserved for Hades kids, then to the arena. Only a few people were there this early, but Sholeh thought that she needed to train. Exercise had always made her feel calmer and in control.

Noticing Annabeth across the arena fighting against Clarisse, Sholeh ran over and watched them. When they ended (with Annabeth winning, of course) Clarisse stomped away and the victor turned to Sholeh.

"Hey," Annabeth said cheerfully.

"Hi," replied Sholeh, but the other demigod noticed the gloomy tone of her voice.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, remember the thunder last night?" To this, Annabeth nodded. "That was me, picking a fight with the father of all gods."

"Zeus? You fought with Zeus?" Annabeth now had a worried look on her face. "Oh gods, Sholeh, why in Hades did you do that?'

"He didn't like the idea of a Hades cabin," the girl replied glumly. "I yelled up at the sky, to deal with it, and he didn't take that too well. Lord Zeus was about to kill me, but my dad stopped him. And honestly, I was terrified."

"Well, yeah, I would be too, if I had just pissed off Zeus!"

"Well, see, that's not the worst part," explained Sholeh. The two girls were now sitting on the ground as they talked. "See, then Leo and I got in a fight."

"Remind me how that's worse than having Lord Zeus mad at you?"

"Never mind," Sholeh replied. She knew that Annabeth was a great friend, but Sholeh regretted telling her about this. "I just need to fight and forget about everything." The two girls stood up, and Sholeh put on battle armor.

Standing ready to fight, Sholeh's felt her mind clear. There was only one objective and one variable here; to win and avoid the other's blade. When an onlooker yelled, "Go," the girl leapt forward with her dagger from Hades. It slashed toward Annabeth's shoulder, but then the daughter of Athena swung her sword and Sholeh was forced to awkwardly fall back. Annabeth advanced and brandished her blade again, but this time Sholeh was ready, and the girl sidestepped. Before Annabeth could stop her, Sholeh had her dagger up at her throat, and the daughter of Hades and Hestia was clearly the winner of the fight.

The two girls fought six more times, four ending with Sholeh as the victor. Before long, a crowd had gathered around them. Sholeh began to take off her battle armor when a familiar someone yelled out her name. She spun around to see Leo, just as handsome as ever, and his arms around two girls from Aphrodite cabin. They stared up adoringly at him, though he was oblivious to their obsession.

"Hey, firegirl!" Leo called. The nickname seemed to mock her, and the sight of him made Sholeh think someone had twisted a blade into her heart. "Want to fight me, or are you too scared?"

Sholeh stared deep into his eyes. Outwardly, Leo seemed confident and arrogant, but the emotions in his chocolate brown eyes made her think of a desperate, trapped animal. "I'll fight you," she replied quietly.

He grinned at her, but got no smile or laugh in return. Sholeh simply put her armor back on and stood ready. Leo dressed in battle armor also and grabbed his sword, still smiling. Annabeth yelled for the two to begin fighting, and immediately Leo lashed out viciously at her. Sholeh mind did not clear this time, and the girl felt like she was on the verge of emotional collapse. Luckily, her body continued to fight by reflex and muscle memory, and Sholeh felt herself sidestep lightly.

She ducked under his swinging sword and brought the dagger up, which should have been the end of the fight, but Leo viciously pushed her backwards. He flourished his sword again, and Sholeh was forced to jump back even more.

Sholeh had fought Leo before, and he had never been so reckless as this. His lunges were risky at best, and if she had wanted to, Sholeh could have easily wounded him. The two girls from Aphrodite cheered him on, yelling louder than all the other onlookers combined. Sholeh attacked only for her self-defense, preferring to dodge Leo's assaults.

He noticed this, and yelled out to her, frustrated, "Hey! Why don't you actually attack? Give it your all, show me the fire!" he taunted. "Yeah, why don't you try to burn me? Or get the ground to swallow me up? Huh? What's your problem, firegirl?" Leo mocked and every word only pushed Sholeh toward the edge. His attacks became more and more desperate, and the smile vanished from his face. Leo now looked miserable but continued taunting the girl. The crowd, sensing that some fatal tide had turned, abruptly stopped cheering and backed away silently.

Finally, something snapped within Sholeh when Leo called her 'firegirl' again. She threw down her dagger. Leo looked confused and stepped back when an inferno sprang up around him. The flames danced, mocking Leo cruelly, like his words had taunted Sholeh. The fire surrounded Leo, not touching him, and his beautiful face was contorted with suffering. The flames lapped just in front of his feet, and Leo was caged in Sholeh's anger.

"Is this what you want?" Sholeh screamed. She began pulling off her battle armor when sparks flew from it as her hair turned white-hot. "Well, you have it now!"

Leo whispered, "I don't want this, firegirl. I just want you," but the flames consumed his words as soon as they left his mouth.

"You wanted fire and brimstone and you got it. Are you happy now, Leo? Well, are you?" the girl shrieked. "I just want to you to be happy," she murmured. When he did not reply, Sholeh ended the fires with a motion of her hand and strode furiously out of the arena, into the downpour outside.

Thunder shook the heavens when Sholeh walked out of the stadium, and the rain became a torrential downpour. She stood silently, staring up at the sky and letting the water cool her. Waiting for the rain to absolve her sins in some kind of water induced catharsis, Sholeh sighed, but received no such release. When Sholeh heard Leo desperately call her name and run toward her, she began to walk away again, but he grabbed her hand.

"Sholeh! Don't run away from me," he pleaded in a tortured voice.

"Why not? You don't care anyway," Sholeh yelled back at him. "Why did you leave me?" Her frustration began to take control of her. Silent tears ran down her cheeks but were lost in the rain. Leo, however, saw how her dark eyes shone unnaturally and guessed the truth.

"You left when I needed you most! When my world was crashing down, you said you didn't care. I was lost, Leo, and you didn't find me or even try. Do you think that I _like_ being able to use fire? That I _enjoy_, perhaps, destroying the things and people who mean the most to me? I hate it more than you could ever know. I can't even control my power, and you force me to use it on you," she finished, still screaming into his face.

"I left when you needed me? You said that you didn't need any help! I wanted to be there for you; you were the one who pushed me away, not the other way around, Sholeh! Leo yelled back at her. The tension surrounding the two demigods was palpable; it rose higher and higher and Leo roared in anger and disappointment. They were both completely soaked and shivered in the freezing air without noticing.

"Do you think that this is easy for me?" he continued, the volume of his voice rising. "Finding out that you're a child of the Big Three, that you face greater danger than anyone, that monsters and Kronos will hunt you, and that someday I may not be able to do anything to protect you? Do you know what would happen if I lost you? What I would feel? Can you even grasp that loss, because you're the only girl I've ever --" Leo stopped his soliloquy abruptly, but Sholeh didn't notice and just turned angrily, beginning to run away.

Leo grabbed her hand again, stopping her, and gripped it tightly, as if Sholeh was the only thing saving him from falling of the edge of the world. "What, Leo?" she asked him wearily. Sholeh was suddenly tired of this fight, of this life. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You stole my heart," Leo whispered. And then his mouth was upon hers, tenderly caressing her lips, and Sholeh returned the kiss. Her pulse raced and heart pounded. Sholeh's mind told her to stop, that Leo was her best friend, that she was supposed to continue fighting, but her emotions said that this was so right. Sometime during the fight, her hair had come undone from its tie and now hung in dripping strands around her face. Leo's hand moved from Sholeh's shoulders to run his fingers through her hair, which was still warm, and smelled faintly of copper. They breathed as one, and leaned back into each other. Leo was distinctly aware of everywhere their bodies touched; his senses seemed heightened in elation. For the first time, he acknowledged what he felt for Sholeh; it was love.

The next morning, Sholeh awoke with wet hair, a neck cramp, and huge smile on her face. Recalling last night's events only served to make her happier, and Sholeh's heart seemed to overfill with joy. Her unexpected laughter woke up Nico, who was not in nearly as good of a mood, and the boy asked her 'what the Hades could possibly funny at this hour?'

"I just remembered the looks on those girls from Aphrodite cabin," she replied, grinning. "It was worth the slap." Coming out of the arena, the two demigods had seen Sholeh and Leo kissing, and were furious. Each one slapped Sholeh before she could stop them, but to see Leo's reaction had been worth it. He had harshly pushed them away, yelling that 'You only wish that you were half the girl Sholeh is,' and gently led away his new girlfriend. Plus, Sholeh lit a fire right underneath them.

The girl sat on her bed, almost disbelieving of this happiness. She hugged her knees to her chest tightly and felt like the whole world should be celebrating. _Oh gods_, she thought ecstatically, _thank you_.

Suddenly, there was a rap at her window. Sholeh had insisted that there be a window next to her bed because she loved to see the sun rise in the morning. Turning around, she noticed that the visitor was just the person she wanted to see.

"Leo!" she yelled, elated by the sight. There he was, standing right outside her window, smiling from ear to ear, blond hair messy and tan skin practically glowing with love. Sholeh jumped up, pounded on the bathroom door, ordering Nico out, and dashed in to get dressed. When she was satisfied with her appearance, Sholeh sprinted outside and was immediately wrapped in Leo's hug.

"Six-point-oh-five-two seconds," he said, grinning and pretending to check his stopwatch, "it's officially a new record," Leo joked.

"Yes, well I had a very important appointment to get to," she whispered mock-seriously into his ear, "I simply couldn't be late."

"Uh, guys," Percy said impatiently, interrupting their embrace, "Sorry to barge in on this tender moment, but Chiron wants to see you, Sholeh." Annabeth stood next to the son of Poseidon and turned to him.

"Remember when we first got together?" she asked, grinning.

"Yeah," Percy replied, reaching for Annabeth's hand.

"Wasn't that like four days ago?" Leo asked. "You're talking about it like you've been together for years."

"Yeah, really," Sholeh agreed. "And might I add, that wouldn't even have happened if not for me."

"What did you do to get them to finally admit that they like each other?" Leo asked, pretending Percy and Annabeth weren't there. The two demigods in question blushed.

"Well, Annabeth said last summer that she loved Luke because of the prophecy, right?" Leo nodded. He was familiar with that prophecy's last line, _and a love will be lost to a fate worse than death_. "Well, as it turns out, Annabeth here only pretended to love Luke so that she could fool the prophecy. Because if she loved Percy, she would lose him. So I just got her to admit it and things fell into place."

"Sneaky, sneaky," teased Leo, pulling Sholeh closer to him. "How did you do _that_?" Percy and Annabeth turned an even deeper shade of red and began to whistle suspiciously.

"_That _is between me and them," the girl laughed back, drawing sighs of relief from Percy and Annabeth. "Okay, why does Chiron want to see me?"

"Well, he says that someone is here to visit you," replied Percy, who was obviously happy to be on a different subject.

"Okay, let's go, Leo," Sholeh said happily, beginning to walk toward the Big House.

"Do you mind if we come too?" asked Annabeth, "We need to ask Mr. D something."

"No problem!" the girl called back. All four demigods leisurely strolled over, talking about everything and nothing, happy with the world for once.

Entering the Big House, Sholeh was surprised by the incredible warmth inside. She of course, didn't mind because her mother was the goddess of the hearth and fire, but Leo immediately said, "Whoa," and pulled up his sleeves.

Suddenly Chiron stepped out of another door to greet the two. "You have someone to see you, Sholeh. She's in here," Sholeh wondered why Chiron was being so mysterious, but walked into the other room all the same. As soon as the girl entered, the heat increased even more. Leo guessed that it was at least one hundred and twenty degrees, and rolled up his shirt sleeves. The room was totally dark, except for a huge fire in the fireplace.

"Hello daughter," came a voice from the dark corner of the room.

"Mom?" Sholeh asked in disbelief, "I can't see you." The girl reached for the light switch, and turned on the overhead light. Immediately, Sholeh saw a woman sitting in a black armchair, who seemed to be in her mid-thirties, with stunning, bright red hair.

Leo whispered, "Lady Hestia," in awe. The goddess looked so similar to Sholeh. Her eyes and lips were the same exact shape, but Hestia's face was free of cares, unlike her daughter's. Sholeh took a few steps backward in astonishment and skepticism.

"Sholeh Prometheus! I haven't seen you since you were just a baby in my arms, and this is how you greet me?" Hestia's words seemed kind, but the tone of her voice was dangerous.

"And whose fault is that, mother?" Sholeh replied coldly. _This woman abandons me, ignores me my entire life, and now thinks that if she shows up here, everything will be fine?_ Sholeh thought, _As if._

"Well, I admit that I haven't contacted you much. However," the goddess began.

"Much? I didn't even know you were my mother until last week!" Sholeh struggled to keep her anger under control, and would've liked to scream in frustration.

"Sweetie, that doesn't mean I haven't tried to see you," said Hestia, also visibly trying to conceal her anger. "Remember that time in kindergarten when—"

"_Mother_," Sholeh seemed to spit out the word, "I don't want to hear it."

"Fine! But you _are_ my daughter and will act as such!" yelled Lady Hestia. Suddenly, she seemed to relax again, and she smiled. "Oh, dear, I almost forgot. I have a present for you." The goddess pulled out a beautiful silver package from her red handbag, and handed it to Sholeh.

Opening it up, Sholeh took out the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was made of a fine material, and entirely covered in red rubies. The dress reached down to a little above her knee, and Sholeh gasped at its magnificence. "Yes, I hoped that you might like it," said Hestia in a pleased voice. "As you begin to gain more control of your powers, they will become more intense. So, this dress is not only rather attractive, but also will not burn off like normal clothes." Sholeh's mother began to rifle through her handbag again.

Quietly, Leo whispered in Sholeh's ear, "Do you have to wear it?"

"Well, Leo, why would I not?" she replied in mock surprise. "Would you like to see me without clothes?" Sholeh asked, though she already knew the answer.

"More than you will ever know," Leo murmured back, and the girl giggled.

Hestia seemed enraged at something found in her bag, and suddenly, fire raged dangerously. Leo took a few steps back. He had experienced Sholeh's destructive power firsthand, and couldn't imagine what her mother, a full goddess, could wreak.

Unfortunately, Leo's movement caught Hestia's eye. "Sholeh, who is that?" she asked in a suspicious voice.

"This," Sholeh replied, bringing the boy forward, "is Leo." The demigod's head was raised and her jaw was clenched in defiance, as if daring her mother to disapprove.

"Oh," Hestia said in a cool voice. "This is the _Leo_ I have heard so much about. I wanted to speak with you about this, also, Sholeh. I know this boy's father, Apollo, who may be a god, but has a bad reputation. And like I always say, the flame doesn't spring up far from the fire."

"Your point being?"

"I can understand if you are attracted to him, but I think that you should end this relationship," stated Lady Hestia finally.

"No." Leo was both ecstatic that Sholeh would go so far to defend him, but another side of him wished that Sholeh would give in for her own safety.

"Well, I really don't think that it is appropriate after his father made a move on you also, Sholeh—"

"WHAT?" Leo yelled, speaking for the first time in the conversation. "My dad… tried something with you?" he asked Sholeh. His fists were clenched in anger and the blood coursed furiously through his veins.

"Well, the first time we met, yes, but I told him no, and Lord Apollo left it at that," Sholeh explained.

"Oh gods, how could he? How _dare_ he?" Leo was shaking with rage. Admittedly, Sholeh had never imagined that Leo could be so infuriated. She had known that he was extremely protective of her, but didn't that it would reach to such an extent.

"You see? Daughter, this boy is obviously not right for you," Hestia practically crowed with happiness.

"With all due respect, Mom," Sholeh said coldly, "He means more to me than you ever will," and strode out of the room holding Leo's hand.


	7. Obligations

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 7: OBLIGATIONS**

Later that night, Sholeh and Nico sat at the Hades table in the mess hall as usual. The two talked about Lady Hestia, and Nico agreed that she had been obnoxious. But he also was advising Sholeh not to make too many immortal enemies, when a newcomer who had just been claimed by Ares walked over.

He wore a leather jacket and was very muscular. Leaning on the Hades table, the boy arrogantly said to Sholeh, "Hey, babe."

Leo appeared in an instant and tapped the Ares kid (Sholeh thought his name was Theron) on the shoulder. In a voice filled with anger he said, "You're talking to _my_ girlfriend."

"So?" The other boy stared back at Leo, arms crossed and unmoving. Leo looked as if he was ready to attack him, but Sholeh calmly stood up.

"I can handle this, Leo," the girl said in a cool voice, and walked in between the two. She stared into the Ares kid's eyes, and spoke, as if to a young child. "Now I would appreciate you leaving me alone."

"Why should I? Give me one good reason," the boy returned disdainfully.

"Well, let's see. I'll let you burn in the fires of Hades if you don't," Sholeh replied, as if it was the obvious thing in the world. "Seeing as my parents are Hades and Hestia."

The boy paled but did not back down. "So you were just leaving," hinted Leo, and the Ares kid obediently left to return to the derision of his siblings. Leo let out a sigh of relief.

"Why, Leo, you didn't feel threatened by him, did you?" said Sholeh in a tone of mock surprise.

"Of course not," he scoffed. "I'm better looking than him," Leo continued arrogantly.

"And _so_ much humbler too," Sholeh joked, laughing.

"Well, _I_ thought you didn't like using fire," the boy pointed out.

"Sometimes, it can come in handy as a threat," Sholeh replied. "Come on, I'm done eating."

"I'm not!" the boy protested, but followed Sholeh out of the mess hall.

Running outside, the two demigods found Percy and Annabeth lying on the grass, looking up at the sky. Sholeh and Leo sat down beside them silently. The four gazed up at the stars, which were always brighter at Camp Half Blood than anywhere else.

"See that?" Percy finally asked, breaking the silence and pointing up at a constellation.

"Yes," replied Sholeh. "It looks like a girl."

"That's our friend Zoë."

"You have friends who are stars?" asked Leo sarcastically. Sholeh smacked him on the shoulder, producing a loud "Ow! What?"

"Zoë died in a fight against Kronos. Her father was Atlas, but she was a hunter of Artemis," Annabeth explained gravely. She hadn't spent as much time with Zoë as Percy had, but deeply respected the girl all the same. "And when she died, Artemis gave her a constellation."

"At least she was rewarded. You know Lola, the daughter of Demeter?" Everyone nodded. "They brought her back to camp yesterday, completely mad. She and a few others were sent on some secret mission. Chiron doesn't think that she'll make it."

Percy and Annabeth began talking about something called 'The Labyrinth' and walking away. "This is what I don't get," said Sholeh, frustrated, "all the heroes work and fight for the gods, continually. So many die and no one even knows their name. Sure there's a few like Theseus or Hercules who are remembered, but everyone else is forgotten, even by the gods."

"And then when you finally hear from your Olympian parent, it's not 'Thanks so much for trying to protect me from the evil Titan lord,' its do this, do that." Leo knew that she was talking about her own parents now and nodded sympathetically. "I mean, at least Hades didn't try to dictate my life, like Hestia did."

"But still it's our duty to protect Olympus, regardless of whatever we go through," Sholeh finished angrily.

"'There is no such thing as duty. If you know that a thing is right, you want to do it. If you don't want to do it--it isn't right'" Leo reached over to push a strand of hair out of Sholeh's face before continuing, "'If it's right and you don't want to do it--you don't know what right is and you're not a man.'"

"Say what?" Sholeh asked him, confused.

Leo sighed. "It's from a book." Sholeh had never read much; her dyslexia prevented that. But then again, the comment had sounded philosophical, and Leo's dad _had_ invented the discipline. "You of all people don't act on command, Sholeh. Your duty is to yourself alone."

She didn't quite see where this was going and simply stared at Leo. "But before you judge Western Civilization too harshly, remember that it _is_ exactly that; civilization. Before the gods, there was nothing. Chaos and disorder reigned under Kronos, but the Olympians brought arts, culture, democracy, order, beauty, and music, to name a few."

"You're right," Sholeh replied with a sigh. "As always."

"Yeah, he has a tendency to do that sometimes," came a carefree voice from behind the two demigods. "Gets it from me, of course." They spun around to see someone around eighteen with blond hair and good looks similar to Leo's.

"Dad?" Leo asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's me," Apollo said with a grand motion of his arms. "No need to overwhelm me with your gratitude for coming. There's enough of me to go around."

"What are _you_ doing here?" his son asked in a hostile tone.

"Oh, you know. Just thought I'd stop by… look at… stuff." Leo and Sholeh stared at him skeptically.

"So… nice camp you've got here, dude," Apollo said awkwardly and scuffing his foot against the ground. "Glad my money is being well spent."

"You're not paying for me to go here."

"Seriously, man?" Apollo looked shocked. "Stupid Hermes tricked me again!" The god swore vehemently, while Sholeh struggled to keep a straight face.

"What do you want, Dad?" Leo sighed, exasperated. "If you're not here for any particular reason, I think you should leave."

"No way! This is the most fun I've had in ages! I love talking to you guys!" Apollo enthusiastically yelled.

"Lady Artemis kicked you off Olympus again, didn't she?" Leo asked, a grin spreading across his face.

"Nuh uh," Lord Apollo replied, sounding much more like a pouting child than an Olympian god. "I just… wanted some fresh air," he continued to explain, but the demigods weren't buying it. Sholeh began to giggle, and had to lean into Leo to keep from bursting out laughing.

"So you two are a couple now?" Apollo asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah," Sholeh replied, moving closer to the demigod next to her.

"Damn," the god said, though he was still smiling. "We would've been great together, babe." At this Leo angrily stood up.

"Leave her alone," the demigod told his father in a dangerously controlled voice. "And I heard that you tried something with _my_ girlfriend!"

"Chill, dude," Apollo replied, apparently not at all concerned with his son's rage. "That was like, ages ago. And you two hadn't even met."

"That doesn't change anything!" Leo began to yell.

"That's how you were born," returned the sun god coolly.

"Well, you're the father of about a billion kids, so maybe you had better start acting like one."

At this, Apollo's grin slowly changed to a disapproving frown, and his tan face was tinged with red. "Just because you're my son, Lev, doesn't mean that I will tolerate this. You have no idea what the gods do for you heroes." Sholeh had always believed that Apollo was the coolest and most laid-back of the gods, but now realized that he had a dangerous side as well. "I think that I'll be leaving now," he continued in proper English (for once), winked at Sholeh, and vanished in a cloud of light.

_Wait a second_, Sholeh thought before realizing the strange part of Apollo's comment.

"Your name is Lev?" Sholeh yelled (accidentally into Leo's ear.)

"Wait, I think my eardrum has been punctured," joked Leo, before continuing, "Yeah, technically. Stupid Dad _insisted_ that I be named Lev, but it's OK with me as long as everyone calls me Leo," the boy finished and a look of worry crossed his face. "Why?"

"No, I just think it's funny that you've never told me that," Sholeh replied with a smile.

"Well, you never told me your full name."

"I didn't have to! You already knew it."

"Fine, be that way," Leo replied petulantly. Suddenly, an idea came to him and his face lit up in a devilish smile. "And while we're on the topic of names, isn't 'Prometheus' a boy's name?"

"Shut up!" replied Sholeh, her face drained of color. Obviously, her middle name had been a source of much mockery throughout her life.

"No, I don't think that I will," teased Leo. "In fact, I think that I'll call you that."

"Well, then I'll call you Casanova _or_ Lev," the girl countered, crossing her arms stubbornly. "See, I have two choices."

"Okay, fine," Leo conceded with a smile before adding slyly, "Prometheus."

"Stop it!" Sholeh yelled and playfully pounded Leo with her fists.


	8. Oracular Spectacular

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 8: ORACULAR SPECTACULAR**

After saying goodnight to Percy, Annabeth and Sholeh, Leo slowly walked to the Apollo cabin, mulling over the events of the day. "_Well, you're the father of about a billion kids, so maybe you had better start acting like one,"_ Leo had said, and meant it. For the first time in his life, the boy wished that he were not a demigod. That he had a normal family, a normal father who didn't abandon him and his mother, that he didn't always face danger.

Leo's mother had been the winner of many beauty pageants by the age of seventeen, and met Apollo, disguised as a mortal, in a coffee shop one day. Falling deeply in love with the god and believing the feeling was mutual, Michelle Eliot had a one-night stand, never seeing Leo's father again. Coming from a strictly Christian family who disowned the girl after finding she was pregnant and that she believed the child was a Greek god's son, Michelle and Leo traveled the country in hopes of evading monsters. When Leo was eleven, the two were attacked by an empousa while staying in a motel in Georgia. Narrowly escaping, Michelle Eliot dropped her son off at Camp Half Blood, got a job as a waitress in New York City, and never spoke to Leo again.

The young demigod had at first loved being descended from a Greek god, but as he grew older, Leo began to feel bitterness towards the father who had destroyed Michelle Eliot's life, along with countless others. Prior to today, the positive influence of other demigods he met at Camp Half Blood had outweighed Leo's resentment, and he felt a certain love for Western Civilization, if not for the gods who controlled it.

Thinking of his father's arrogance and his past with new eyes, Leo wasn't sure what he would choose; revenge or the salvation of civilization. _Thank the gods I don't have to make that decision_, he thought, _Percy or Sholeh will._

_Shhh…shhh….shhh. _The early November wind blew through Camp Half Blood's maple trees, when suddenly a more sinister sound emerged among the gentle cooing of birds and satyr's songs.

A tortured moan rose above these natural noises at two in the morning, emanating from the attic of the Big House. The voice grew in intensity, escalating to a grating scream, speaking words in a mixture of ancient languages. And just when the sound reached its climax, it abruptly stopped.

From every cabin, the demigods ran outside to the source of the noise like moths to a light. _What's going on?_ They all wondered, though no one spoke a word.

Finally, Chiron emerged from the Big House, with hands up and old face drawn tight with fear. "It's the Oracle," he yelled, though the demigods could've heard a pin drop. "We don't know what it wants exactly, but it's asking for the son of Poseidon and the daughter of Hades."

The crowd turned to stare at Sholeh and Percy. The two demigods glanced at each other before walking slowly up to the porch where Chiron stood. The centaur ushered them into the building, leaving the other demigods to noise of the wind and their own whispers.

Climbing up the ancient stairs, Percy and Sholeh were met with the ancient wood's creaking. This one noise in the silence seemed oppressive and eerie. Finally, Sholeh spoke.

"Well, this is exciting," she said to Percy sarcastically. "I mean, has the Oracle ever done this before?"

"No," he replied and they paused on the landing before walking into the room, "It walked outside once, though."

"Oh," she opened the door, which squealed, in desperate need of oil. "What exactly _is_ the Oracle?" But there was no need to ask once she entered the room, for there a mummified figure sat in the middle of the cluttered attic. The room was filled with articles retrieved on quests, Camp Half Blood mementoes, and thousands of other objects no one knew the use for.

"Never mind," Sholeh whispered.

"What? I can't see anything," Percy complained.

"But it's so bright in here."

"It's pitch black!" Percy said. "Maybe being a child of Hades gives you night vision, or something."

"I guess, because I can see the Oracle's going to say something," Sholeh whispered back.

_The greatest four must travel on the outskirts_

_To the Titan Lord's domain_

_To survive they must risk no confrontation,_

_The truth they will discover, but at what cost_

_When all is never what it seems_

_One true hero will be destroyed._

_Fate will be determined in an inferno._

The two demigods began to turn and walk away, Sholeh shivering with fear, when the mummy spoke again. "Wait…" this time the Oracle spoke in a voice reminiscent of someone Sholeh knew, though the girl couldn't pinpoint exactly who.

"Percy? Dude, haven't seen you in forever seems like," the Oracle spoke again, staggering towards Percy. The two demigods fell backwards in their rush to get away from the rotting figure.

"Apollo?" the son of Poseidon asked in disbelief. Then Sholeh noticed that the voice was indeed Apollo's, though how he controlled the Oracle she had no idea.

"Yeah, man, this _is _my Oracle after all," the mummy said, clearly affronted, with moldy arms on its hips.

"Um, OK," replied Percy, though still freaked out by the Oracle. "What did you want to tell us?"

"Oh, well we're having some problems up on Olympus. Like, a lot, guys."

"Like what?" asked Sholeh, curious though she had her hand on the door for a quick escape. An Oracle over two thousand years old, complete with rotting corpse is a rather disgusting sight.

"Well, Phobos and Deimos have gone over to Kronos' side." Sholeh gasped loudly. This was a serious problem. The two gods were sons of Ares and Aphrodite who struck fear into the hearts of men. Literally. Heroes now would not just fight against monsters in battle; they would face their deepest fears as well.

Percy's face was drawn in anxiousness, though he seemed resigned to this new challenge. "Can you tell us anything about the Prophecy?" he asked hopefully.

"No, sorry, man. Told you before, it would defeat the artistic purpose."

"I bet you just don't have any clue what it means," Sholeh muttered under her breath.

"I am _so_ offended, babe! I so _do_ know what it means!" the Oracle said in Apollo's voice and stepped towards the girl.

"Oh gods, go away please. You smell awful."

"It's the Oracle, not me!" he protested. "You try being mummified for thousands of years."

"No, I don't think I will," Sholeh replied grinning.

"Whoa, I have to go now," Apollo in the body of the Oracle responded. "Big council. Way boring, but I have to be there. I'll just bring my iPod," the god said, his voice fading as the Oracle sat down where it belonged.

"Well, that was…. an experience," remarked Sholeh after a pause. "Should we get going, then?" Percy nodded grimly and the two headed down the stairs.

When the demigods reached the porch again, Leo ran up to Sholeh. "Are you OK?" he asked, worried and grabbing her shoulders.

"I'm fine, but I'm not a big fan of the Oracle."

"You're sure you're OK? And why?"

"Well, it smells terrible for one," Sholeh returned with a grin. "And yes, I'm fine, Leo." At this the boy heaved a sigh of relief. Putting his arms around Sholeh, the two walked over to where Chiron and Percy were talking.

"Meeting in the Big House!" Chiron called out suddenly, "All Cabin Leaders needed!" A large groan rose from the crowd.

"It's two in the morning!" someone (probably an Aphrodite kid who wanted their beauty sleep) loudly protested.

"What, you need over nine hours of sleep?" Sholeh asked, annoyed.

"Yes, I do!"

"Sucks for you."

The counselors of each cabin assembled in a circle inside the Big House. Mr. D, wearing a leopard print full body pajama, was there as well, yawning overdramatically. The demigods spoke in hushed tones among themselves, wondering what the prophecy had been.

Finally, Chiron stood up and silenced the heroes. "Percy, if you could please tell everyone the prophecy," he said.

Percy recited the prophecy, and everyone began whispering again. "Please everyone, cooperate," Chiron asked. "Sholeh, what did Apollo tell you and Percy?"

The girl took a deep breath. This news was not going to be well received. "Phobos and Deimos have joined Kronos." A silence more complete than any Chiron could have asked for fell over the demigods.

"This is serious," Chiron spoke again. This, unluckily, signaled the demigods to start arguing again. All the cabin leaders felt that they were the 'most powerful' and felt it their responsibility to go.

Chiron let them argue for a while, but when Clarisse actually began to strangle Silena, the centaur yelled at the demigods to stop. "We need to come to a decision like civilized people!"

"Even if we aren't," Sholeh whispered to Leo, who sat next to her.

"Now, this obviously calls for a quest! We must go through the prophecy to determine who will go."

Clarisse stood up, "I have to go! I am _obviously _the most powerful," at this Sholeh scoffed. Clarisse stared at the daughter of Hades, and said belligerently , "Are you laughing at me?"

"Yes."

"Why you little.." Clarisse climbed over the table she was sitting at to try and attack Sholeh, but was stopped by the girl's words.

"Really, Clarisse? You want to try that? Remember what happened to the South Woods?" the girl asked coolly. "I think that you would look lovely burned to a crisp."

"I can take you," Clarisse yelled.

"Stop it now!" Chiron bellowed. "Clarisse, sit down. Sholeh, stop provoking her. Now, I believe that in this situation, 'four most powerful' means the four demigods with those with the most Olympian blood in them." Immediately, even louder protesting broke out among the demigods.

"All you rug rats just _shut up_!" Mr. D finally yelled. There was mostly silence, joined by the continued whispers.

"Now, that means we need to summon the Hunters of Artemis," Chiron continued. "And Percy, Sholeh, Thalia, and Nico will go on this quest," the centaur announced finally.


	9. A Feud and A Muse

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 9: A FEUD AND A MUSE**

Leaving the Big House, Leo and Sholeh walked side by side, silently and slowly as everyone else rushed ahead to get back under the safety of their warm blankets. Finally, Leo spoke.

"You can't go on this quest," the demigod announced, his eyebrows knitted together in anxiety.

"I have to, Leo," Sholeh replied quietly. "I get the feeling it's not an optional field trip."

"I don't care," he said, grabbing her shoulders to turn the girl around and looking deep into her eyes. "You don't know what these quests are like. Demigods leave, travel across the country for _months_ sometimes…"

"I know that."

"They fight monsters continuously. I won't let you go. We're going to tell Chiron right now that you can't go on this quest." Leo began to pull her in the direction of the Big House.

"No!" Sholeh tried to walk back towards the cabins, but Leo was much stronger and larger than she. Finally, the girl sat down to prevent him from dragging her there.

"This is ridiculous," Leo said, crossing his arms and staring down at Sholeh. He fought a losing battle to keep control of his emotions. He was bombarded with pictures of Sholeh attacking monsters, of the beasts being stronger than she, and her dea… _I won't even think that_, Leo decided in his mind, _that won't happen; she can't go. I can't lose her._

Leo shut his eyes tightly. When he opened them again, Sholeh was once again on her feet. "You're not going on this quest," he commanded her, but his voice was tremulous as if he was pleading for his life.

"Give me one reason why I can't," Sholeh's face was unflinching and her eyes shone with determination.

"You could die," Leo replied before he could stop himself. His voice was panicked. Apollo's son violently grabbed her hands. "You _can't_ go on this quest because--"

"I'm not some damsel in distress," Sholeh cut him off angrily. "I can handle it."

"I know you aren't, Sholeh," Leo kissed her forehead. "I know you can do anything. _I_ can't handle you leaving."

Sholeh pressed her lips to his before tearing herself away from Leo. She reluctantly forced herself to walk backwards. _If I don't leave now, I never will_, she thought. _Yet again, I'm giving up so much for the gods_. "It's what's right," she called back to him, though her voice sounded tortured. Leo was left standing in the field alone, heart pounding and breathing heavily.

That morning, Sholeh awoke not to the usual chirping of birds, but a harsh pounding at the door. Nico groaned loudly and put the pillow over his head. "Thanks, Nico, make me get the door, why don't you?" Sholeh sarcastically said.

Swearing profusely, the girl stumbled over to the door. Ripping it open, Sholeh covered her eyes from the intense light that flooded the room and spoke. "Who the Hades are you people?"

At the door of Hades cabin stood a group of females dressed all in silver and equipped with bows. In front stood a girl with heavy black eyeliner, layered black hair, and shocking blue eyes who stomped authoritatively into the room. Another girl who looked around twelve with a silver aura encircling her head followed her.

The first girl quickly looked under the furniture, under the blankets (much to Nico's chagrin) and in the bathroom, before announcing, "All clear, Lady Artemis."

Sholeh stood in center of the room, staring dangerously at the two girls now sitting on her bed. "I'm going to say this nicely, now," the daughter of Hades and Hestia said slowly, "Who are you?"

The black-haired girl looked at Sholeh for the first time, and replied, "This is Lady Artemis. We are her devotees, the Hunters of Artemis, and I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus and her lieutenant hunter."

"Well, isn't that nice," Sholeh replied coldly. She was _not_ a morning person. "Now that I know who exactly barged into my room without asking, I can politely ask you all to leave."

This time it was the goddess who spoke. "Insolent girl," she said clearly, and stared at Sholeh, as if to say 'you'll-pay-for-that.'

Thalia, too, glared at the daughter of Hades angrily. "Chiron told us we could find you here," she said after a pause. Upon closer inspection once her eyes became accustomed to the light, Sholeh saw that the Hunters of Artemis all wore silver tank tops and shorts, their hair neatly tied back in braids. Thalia, however, wore her hair down in jagged layers, wore a spiked dog collar around her neck, and chain bracelets on her wrists.

"That doesn't mean that you can just storm in here!" Sholeh protested angrily and glared back at Thalia, her eyebrows raised. The daughter of Zeus just narrowed her eyes in frustration. "In fact, why the _Hades_ are you here?" Sholeh noticed that Nico was sitting silently on his bed, looking with pure hatred at the Hunters.

"He wanted us to get you," Thalia returned with clenched fists, as if daring Sholeh to disagree.

"That's specific."

"It's about the quest."

"You don't say," Sholeh replied, mock-surprised, "I never could've guessed." Sholeh usually kept an open mind about people, but this Thalia immediately got on her nerves. Everything about the Hunter annoyed the daughter of Hades, even if it was irrational.

The two rival demigods just glared at each other for another minute until Artemis declared, "We're leaving. Goodbye, Thalia. Good luck."

Thalia smiled grimly and shook the goddess' hand before the Hunters of Artemis exited Hades cabin.

"I'm going now," the daughter of Zeus announced before stomping out of the cabin in her black combat boots.

"Don't let us keep you," Sholeh angrily muttered, and similarly stomped into the bathroom to dress.

When Sholeh got out of the bathroom Nico had already left, so she sprinted over to the Big House. She walked in, the last of all the quest members, panting heavily. The other demigods were sitting in a semicircle listening to Chiron and Sholeh took a seat between Percy and Nico.

"What did I miss?" she asked her half-brother.

"I don't know," Nico whispered back. "I just got here myself."

"Ahem," Chiron coughed falsely. "I was about to tell you that." Sholeh smiled apologetically and the centaur continued. "We need to discuss the prophecy. I believe that you all have been granted this quest for two reasons; to find out what Kronos is doing, and also to try and get Phobos and Deimos back on our side."

"Chiron, I don't think that's going to work," Percy protested. "I mean, sons of Ares and Aphrodite? It's not like their consciences will suddenly kick in and they'll leave Kronos."

"I know," the centaur sighed. "But we need to at least try."

Percy looked skeptical but didn't reply. Chiron continued, "I think that you all should leave at dawn tomorrow. Use the van for as long as possible, but if you meet any monsters, leave it immediately and travel on foot." Nico groaned. He'd done enough traveling on foot last summer, and wasn't looking forward to another exhausting journey.

"And remember: this is a reconnaissance and recruitment mission _only_," Chiron continued, paying no heed to Nico's reluctant sighs, "Avoid battles at all costs."

"I'm sure that'll work out just fine when every monster in North America wants to eat us," Sholeh said sarcastically, getting an exasperated glare from Chiron. "Sorry. I just, y'know, am not sure how well this is going to go and would like to come back in one piece."

"We all do," replied Percy softly, "and we're all going to come back just fine."

"SEAWEED-BRAIN!" Annabeth's angry cry echoed over the entire Camp Half Blood. The camp members had finally left their meeting with Chiron and were walking out of the Big House when the daughter of Athena's screech pierced the air.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled happily, noticing her not far away.

Sholeh tried to caution him, but it was to no avail. "Percy, I don't think she's happy to see you—"

Her warning was cut off by Percy's cry of pain when Annabeth sprinted over to him and immediately began hitting the boy as hard as she could. "Annabeth…OW… gods…. Someone help me…. OW…. Please…." Percy yelled desperately between her punches. Finally, he grabbed Annabeth's wrists to stop the attack and cried, "What was that for?"

Thalia broke out in hysterical laughter at the sight and Percy grumbled at her, "Shut up, Pinecone face." The demigod just laughed harder.

"Stupid Seaweed-brain!" yelled Annabeth, furiously trying to break from Percy's grip.

"Gods, Annabeth, what the Hades…?" Percy finally let go of the girl and she collapsed on him before continuing to punch him. Slowly, Annabeth stopped and hugged the boy. Percy looked utterly confused.

"You're leaving, stupid," Annabeth told Percy in a normal tone, finally. "You're going to get in so much trouble without me." The boy stood there, stunned at these sudden changes, but returned the hug. Seeing that the other demigods were watching, Percy motioned for them to leave, which they did.

It's strange how simple finding the unexpected can be. Sholeh spent the rest of the day searching for Leo in order to say goodbye and reassure him, but found only those she did not want to see. After being harassed by the daughters of Aphrodite who, after saying that Leo would soon forget her, ended up with second-degree burns, Sholeh was about to give up hope. It was already dark outside, though she had not packed and reluctantly the girl began to walk back to her cabin. Sholeh was so absorbed in her thoughts that even her perfect night vision didn't prevent her from running straight into someone.

The girl was pushed to the ground from the force of the impact. "Ow," Sholeh groaned and angrily continued, "Watch where the Hades you're going—" she suddenly looked up into the eyes of her assailant.

"Oh, I'm so sorry… Leo, I didn't know it was…. You." She finished awkwardly and felt suddenly uncomfortable in the boy's presence.

Leo, however, put his finger to her lips to silence her and taking her hand, pulled Sholeh up. "Come with me," he said, his brown eyes sparkling with the stars' light.

"Leo, where are we going?" Sholeh asked. The two had been walking for at least half an hour in the North Woods.

In reply, she just got a kiss and, "We're almost there." Finally, they reached a clearing from which the full moon was perfectly visible.

In the center of this glade was an orchestra, composed of Apollo's children, who all smiled excitedly and began to play when he and Sholeh sat down on the grass. "Symphony in F-sharp minor," Leo whispered into her ear, and then, cautiously, "I wrote it for you."

The notes began, tremulously hesitant, climbing higher and higher, until they reached a climax and the fine notes burst like ocean spray on the sand. The music suddenly erupted tumultuously and passionately, sounding both like Sholeh's uncontrolled laughter and glass breaking. Sholeh sat enraptured, ignorant of both the time passing and that Leo was watching her the entire time. Finally, the piece resolved triumphantly, and though there remained an undercurrent of doubt in its music, it proclaimed the joy of living.

Apollo's children put down their instruments and sat silently, not wanting to disrupt the moment. Finally, Leo said, "Celli, you missed the C sharp in bar 175." They all nodded apologetically and began to practice. "Otherwise, good job everyo—"

The word died on Leo's lips as he was tackled by Sholeh and kissed fiercely. Leo's arms moved around her waist and she softly placed her hands on either side of his face. When they finally parted, Sholeh whispered, "Your music was so beautiful."

"That's what you do to me, firegirl," Leo replied, his breath a comforting breeze against Sholeh's cheek, "my muse."


	10. Starbuck and the Drama Queens

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 10: STARBUCK AND THE DRAMA QUEENS**

The alarm clock on Sholeh's nightstand rang, shattering the silence that pervaded Hades cabin. The demigod rolled over, floating in that happy place between sleep and wakefulness, until it shrilly chimed again.

Groaning, Sholeh forced herself to get out of bed, though it was still dark out. She looked over to see that Nico had already left, and suddenly the girl realized what day it was. _Oh my gods, the quest is today. _Sholeh turned to leave before realizing that she still hadn't packed.

"Shit," she swore and ran over to her dresser. Grabbing a duffel bag, Sholeh frantically threw clothes, food, and whatever she thought could possibly be of use into it and then ran out the door, only to run back into the cabin two seconds later. Sholeh reluctantly grabbed the ruby encrusted dress her mother had given her and sprinted out of the cabin.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Thalia said with a smirk when Sholeh arrived at the Big House panting.

"It's too bad you didn't," the daughter of Hades and Hestia snapped.

"It's too bad you were born," Thalia replied with equal malice, before Chiron wisely stepped between the two.

"Stop that right now," the centaur commanded. "This quest requires cooperation above all." Thalia and Sholeh glared angrily at him for ending the argument, though Chiron stayed firmly planted. Percy and Nico looked at the centaur with amazement; not many would dare anger one daughter of the Big Three, let alone two.

"The van is over here," Nico cautiously, not wanting to invoke the wrath of either girl.

"Fine," Sholeh grumbled, walking over to the van. She threw her duffel bag in and turned around. "Who's driving?"

"I am," Thalia replied, getting in the van and sitting in the driver's seat.

"Whoa, no way," Sholeh replied. "I am not getting in that vehicle with _her_ driving it." She knew that she was being difficult, and probably annoying the others to no end, but everything about Thalia offended her. Sholeh had an instant aversion to the demigod, which couldn't be explained in reasonable terms.

"Sholeh!" Chiron scolded. "Why not?"

"She's not even sixteen, for one thing—"

"I'm only one day less than sixteen!"

"Also," Sholeh ignored the other demigod, "I don't believe that someone of such fragile mental stability should be trusted with the lives of three other people." Thalia's face turned bright red with anger as Hades' and Hestia's daughter continued.

"Oh, and her father wants to kill me," Sholeh continued, oblivious of Thalia's fury, "So I really think that having his daughter drive the van I'm traveling in would make it way too easy for Zeus."

"That's it!" the insulted demigod yelled, and grabbed her spear. In a movement reminiscent of a lighting bolt striking the earth, Thalia brought it up to Sholeh's throat so that it nicked her skin. A drop of blood trickled slowly down Sholeh's neck and Zeus' daughter watched it fall to the ground. Then she met Sholeh's eyes. They were defiant and wild, though Sholeh was technically at Thalia's mercy.

Thalia's spear slowly began to grow tremendously hot from touching Sholeh's skin. The daughter of Hades released enough of her anger that it manifested itself in the heat emanating from her body. Thalia suddenly yelped and dropped the spear when it glowed and burned her hands. In an effort to cool them, the demigod frantically blew on them as her enemy laughed. Chiron took this as an opportunity to intervene, however.

"Stop that, both of you, NOW!" the centaur bellowed, shoving both girls backward. None of the demigods had ever seen Chiron so angry, let alone violent, and were shocked. "Get in the van!"

"This is turning out just like my family road trips," grumbled Sholeh as she and the other heroes piled into the van. "Excellent."

Thalia stubbornly took the driver's seat and started up the engine. Sholeh, on the other hand, sat in the back alone and stared out the window.

The Camp Half Blood van pulled out of the driveway to sputter along the road. Sholeh, seeing Apollo cabin, frantically leaned out the window to see if Leo had come to say goodbye, but there was no one there. She sadly sat back down and pulling out an iPod from her duffel bag, turned up the already deafening, angry music to drown out her thoughts.

Thalia drove the van on several interstates as its passengers sat in silence. Thalia and Sholeh were sulking, and Percy and Nico were too afraid to interrupt the girls' brooding, lest they be on the receiving end of either's fury. So the demigods traveled in this way for quite some time, until they were driving through Des Moines, Iowa.

Nico's hunger finally won out over his fear of the two girls. "Uh, not to be a bother or anything," he said, getting a glare from Thalia and no response from Sholeh, "but we've been driving for, like, ever, and I'm starving."

"Well, didn't you bring food?" Thalia asked angrily.

"I did! It was sushi, and Percy threw it out the window because he said it was cruel to eat fish," Nico complained, scowling at Poseidon's son. Percy began to protest that Nico wouldn't eat fish if he had ever spoken to one, but was interrupted.

"Who brings sushi on a quest anyway?" Sholeh asked, annoyed. "Doesn't it need to be refrigerated or it goes bad, or something?"

"I like sushi!" her half brother objected loudly.

"Okay, FINE!" Thalia yelled. "We'll stop for food. Gods, I hate this."

"The feeling's mutual," Sholeh muttered, as the van screeched to a halt in front of a Starbucks.

"Gods, I hate these stores," Thalia grumbled. "They charge like, seven dollars for a lousy cup of coffee."

"Tell me about it," Percy agreed. "Grover loves this place though." Poseidon's son looked sad; he usually went on quests with Grover and Annabeth, but now was stuck with three other children of the Big Three who pretty much hated each other.

"Does anyone know the drachma exchange rate?" Nico asked eagerly, grabbing two sandwiches and a pastry.

"No," Sholeh replied, shaking her head. "Anyway, how would you exchange drachmas for dollars even if you did know it? It's not as if you can just waltz up to an ATM machine and—"

Her sarcasm was ended as a golden machine rose up from the floor in front of Nico. It looked exactly like an ATM machine except the letters 'DTM' replaced the normal logo and it was made of solid gold. Engravings of the Olympian gods covered the machine, and it glowed so brightly that Sholeh had to cover her eyes. "What in Hades is that?" she asked, stunned.

"It's a DTM," Nico explained, as if machines made of precious metals appeared all the time, "Divine Teller Machine. Hermes started to lobby for the gods to get them ages ago, but they were actually put into use just three years ago."

The son of Hades typed in his PIN number and got out a bunch of drachmas, which he then put again into the machine to exchange them for dollars.

"Ooh, the dollar's weak now," Nico said excitedly. "One drachma is almost four dollars. That's great, I have my savings in drachmas." When he was finally done exchanging the money, Sholeh stood astounded. Her half brother bought food for everyone and sat down at a table.

"Erm, OK," she said. "That was weird."

"What, never seen a DTM before?" Thalia asked scathingly, sitting across from Sholeh and eating a tuna sandwich. "Oh right, I forgot. Kronos protected_ you_ from ever being attacked by monsters and you never had any contact with demigods. While other heroes fought monsters constantly," Thalia was now furious, "you lived a happy, ignorant life without ever facing danger or—"

"I didn't ask for this!" Sholeh yelled back at her.

"No, but gods damn it, you got it!" Thalia slammed her fist into the table and the mortals around them stared. "While other demigods were killed so young, without a _chance_ to survive, you were totally safe. When me, and Annabeth, and Luke were roaming the country just to stay alive, you lived a _normal_ life!" The two demigods stood up as Thalia screamed. Sholeh's face was drained of all color and her eyes seemed to reflect the fires of Hades.

"You think I don't know that?" Sholeh yelled back. "You think I don't _know_ that this was shoved on me? That I lived, when so many others died?" She advanced towards Thalia menacingly. "And do you think I'm not tortured by that? That I wish, all the time, that it was someone else who had this prophecy, that I was _anyone_ but myself?"

A look of surprise crossed Thalia's face, but the daughter of Zeus crossed her arms angrily and started to yell back at Sholeh.

"Just shut _up_!" Sholeh screamed, losing the little control she'd had over her emotions. Her reason told her to walk away before she did something unforgivable and the girl turned to walk towards the van. However, at the door, she ran into a very odd sight. In front of Sholeh were bright orange boxers on a pair of very hairy legs. Looking up, she saw the very angry Minotaur.

"Oh gods." Sholeh whispered a split second before the Minotaur charged at the girl. She ducked but ended up crouching awkwardly on the floor, with her arms flailing wildly. Crashing into a display of mugs which all bore the distinctive Starbucks mermaid logo, Sholeh thrashed around on the floor to escape the Minotaur's horns. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that one mug that said 'Safe, sound, and happy in Des Moines.' _I can't imagine a time I've ever been less safe, sound, or happy,_ Sholeh thought angrily and dodged a punch from the monster. _Well, that's irony for you_.

Percy and Nico began to attack the Minotaur, trying to draw it away from the girl. After a moment, Thalia reluctantly began to fight it as well. The bull man bellowed, but continued to assault Sholeh alone. The mortals in the Starbucks screamed in horror. Sholeh wasn't sure _what_ they saw, and was too busy fighting for her life to care. Percy grabbed a piping hot soy milk- no cream, no sugar- coffee from one nearby customer and dumped it on the Minotaur's head. It thundered in anger and jabbed its horns toward Sholeh again.

The Minotaur narrowly missed Sholeh as she crawled through the mess of spilled coffee and food. Seeing Percy pour the beverage onto the monster's head, Sholeh began to yell at him, her voice even louder than the Minotaur's. "Percy! What the Hades was that supposed to do?"

In response, the boy pulled out Riptide to slash at the Minotaur. His lunge, however, barely grazed its arm because it had already moved to try and crush Sholeh, who was now cornered.

The inexplicable rage Sholeh felt in dangerous situations again came over her. She screamed, "Fine! I'll kill it myself," and pulled out the dagger she kept in a sheath belt around her waist in one swift motion. Without any remorse, Sholeh stabbed the celestial bronze knife into the Minotaur's stomach and twisted it. Her eyes were angry and dark watching as the monster dissolved into golden dust. Its horn clattered to the floor and Sholeh picked it up, trying to ignore the disgusting, coffee-drenched, state she was in.

After Thalia manipulated the Mist so the mortals believed that they had witnessed the filming of a movie about zombies in a coffee shop, she and the other demigods walked out to the van.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sholeh said furiously, seeing the state of their transportation. The van's wheels, radio, and seats were missing and it was covered in spray paint that read, 'Centaur ROX!' and 'Dude, wheres my carr?', all spelled atrociously. Scattered around it were empty beer bottles and hoofprints. Clearly, a band of rambunctious centaurs had seen fit to have a party on their van.

"I should never have let them off that ship!" yelled Percy.

"Now how the Hades will we get to Mount Tam?" Nico grumbled. Sholeh walked over to inspect the damage further.

"Well, one of them dropped something very heavy on the engine," she said, looking at the mangled wires and metal. "It looks like a horse landed on it."

"They left our stuff," Percy said in a strangled voice, pulling their duffel bags out of the vehicle.

"Great. We're in Iowa, with no means of transportation, and need to get to California. We only have a couple days worth of food, and how much money do we have, Nico?" his half sister asked.

"Well, funny story, that," the boy replied with an awkward laugh. "You see, the DTMs aren't quite finished, they're sort of prototypes, and I accidentally, sort of… deleted my account on it."

"Fantastic," Sholeh said sarcastically. "We have absolutely _no_ money and no way to reach California. And," she continued, now more frustrated than she had ever been, "I am drenched in coffee and gods-know-what-else." Sholeh had never been a quitter, but now wanted just to take a hot shower and be back at Camp Half Blood with Leo. _Then again_, she thought, getting more depressed by the second, _he didn't even come say goodbye to me._

"Well, you do look and smell rather disgusting," Thalia replied, looking at Sholeh with eyebrows raised, "But I know how to get to California."

"And how the Hades is that?"

"We walk."


	11. Forgetting How To Breathe

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 11: FORGETTING HOW TO BREATHE**

"You're suggesting that we walk from Des Moines, Iowa to Marin County, California, then hike up a mountain, and, along the way, fighting against monsters who want to eat us," Sholeh stated, disbelievingly.

"Yeah, pretty much." Thalia's eyebrows were raised, daring Sholeh to contradict her. The daughter of Hades was in fact much too tired to argue any longer, and remained silently skeptical.

"Thalia, you've got to be kidding," said Percy finally. "You do know that's like 2,000 miles we'll have to walk, right?"

"Well, actually, it's around 1,795," Nico interjected. The others stared at him in shock and he shrugged his shoulders. "What? When you travel across the entire country for an entire year, you get a good grasp of distances."

"You have a better plan, Seaweed Brain?" Thalia asked angrily.

"What if we ask our parents for help?" Sholeh suggested. She hated the idea of asking Hestia, but hated the idea of walking 1,795 miles even more.

"We can try," said Thalia. "Don't know how well that's going to work out, though. Uh, Dad?" she called up to the sky. "Could you help us out here, please?" No response.

"You see?" Zeus' daughter said, frustrated. "He _never_ answers."

"There was that one time with the metal birds," Percy added comfortingly, completely baffling Sholeh.

"I'm not even going to ask," said. Hades' and Hestia's daughter.

"Well, I don't think my dad will hear, we're too far from the ocean," said Percy and the others nodded.

"Guess that leaves us, Nico," said Sholeh gloomily. "Erm, Dad? Could you possibly do something so your two children don't have to walk almost 2,000 miles?" she asked cautiously, addressing the ground. Two teenagers happened to walk by at that moment and laughed at Sholeh talking to the earth below her. Their shoes mysteriously caught on fire.

"Please?" Nico asked grudgingly. He wasn't someone who said 'please' often; children of Hades had a strange way of scaring others into getting what they wanted.

The earth emitted a low rumbling and suddenly, a black slip of paper appeared in front of Sholeh and Nico. It was still smoking slightly as Sholeh picked it up, staring at the jagged silver writing.

_No direct interference in quests. You should know that. Don't let the daughter of Zeus lead you. None of my brother's children are to be trusted._

It was signed 'Hades' underneath in even smaller and sharper lettering. Sholeh groaned, frustrated, after reading the Greek words.

"Well, that was a rip-off," she scowled and the ground quaked. "Well, I'm just saying!" she shouted at the earth again. "We just want a little help. You gods and your stupid rules," she muttered angrily, though soon after, Sholeh hastily apologized. It would be reckless, even for her, to anger _another_ one of the Big Three.

"I guess that rules out help from our parents," said Thalia decisively. "Let's get going; we have a long way ahead."

The band had decided to walk along the interstate highways they had been planning to drive on, since no one knew an alternate route. This plan actually coincided perfectly with the heroes' need to remain concealed because isolated forests lined most interstates on either side. The four demigods were once again on the way to Mount Tamalpais, after Percy manipulated the water in a nearby creek to douse off Sholeh.

The difference was that they were indeed walking this time. Thalia led the way, obstinately refusing to talk to Nico or Sholeh. Percy jogged a short way behind her and sometimes caught up long enough to Thalia so they could speak. Nico walked a little way behind Percy and amused himself by killing the insects swarming the group. He would just have to touch one and it immediately dropped to the ground. Watching this with a darkly happy smile, he would occasionally take out the food from Starbucks and chew it thoughtfully. Sholeh, however, traveled behind the others listening to her iPod and staring sulkily at the ground.

The loss of their van and the incident at Starbucks had a visible effect on Sholeh. Despite being hosed off by Percy, she had a look about her that made the girl seem angry and reluctant. Sholeh was in fact both these things as she pondered the quest. Her usually sparkling eyes were now full of hatred and, though she wore no makeup, they looked as if they had been smudged with kohl because of the darkness that emanated from them.

_It's totally impossible_, she thought, _this quest could never succeed, and we all know it. Who are we kidding?_ Considering the prophecy once again, Sholeh's thought only blackened. _And 'a true hero will be destroyed.' I guess that means someone will… die. Who? _She didn't know what she would do if any of her friends died. Sholeh couldn't even wish the death to be Thalia's.

Because despite her innate dislike of Thalia's personality and decisions, Sholeh could not help but feel a grudging respect for her. She listened, with a feeling similar to admiration, to Thalia's stories about traveling the country with Grover, Annabeth, and Luke. This esteem however, ended when the daughter of Zeus ordered Sholeh around imperiously, and the emotion was replaced in Sholeh's heart by anger and a deep-seated desire to rebel against her authority.

While Percy and Thalia were talking farther ahead, Nico fell back to walk beside his half-sister. Sholeh continued to glare at the ground, pretending not to notice him. Nico, for his part, did not speak and the two continued this way for an hour.

"What're you thinking about?" he finally asked Sholeh cautiously.

"This quest," she replied softly. "What can it possibly accomplish?" Sholeh was beginning to believe that some of Leo's philosophical nature had rubbed off on her. She thought more and more lately and always about the future. In Sholeh's mind, the time to come had Kronos looming maliciously over it, like a storm cloud promising imminent downpour.

Nico sighed. "I dunno," he said.

"Not scared, are you?" Thalia sneered. Neither Sholeh nor Nico had noticed the girl's approach. Looking up, Hades' daughter stared straight into Thalia's shocking, electric blue eyes.

For the first time, Thalia saw the darkness inside of Sholeh and at the same time, the fire shining through it. Sholeh's inner flame seemed starved of oxygen, and yet shone brightly, tenaciously.

"I'm not afraid of anything," she said.

It was two days later, and the group had traveled little over 150 miles. Though Thalia told them halfheartedly that the demigods were making good time, they were all disappointed with their progress. _Two days_, thought Sholeh, _and we're barely one-twelfth of the way there. _Two days spent in the silent, sullen company of three other powerful demigods. Two days of constantly fighting the hellhounds, empousa, and furies which followed them doggedly, no matter where they fled.

Thalia, on the other hand, began to feel her dislike for Sholeh lessen gradually. She knew that Hades' daughter had not wished for her fate or life. Thalia could even see the same determination and fervor in Sholeh that she herself possessed. However, Sholeh's desire to be alone, her silence and darkness irritated Zeus' daughter.

Finally, the band of demigods reached a small stream in the woods they traveled through. It would have been an idyllic picture except the roar of hundreds of cars on the interstate pervaded the forest.

"We should IM camp," Percy suggested. Not waiting for the others' approval, he tossed in a drachma from his pocket and said, "O goddess, accept my offering."

"Percy!" Thalia shrieked, sprinting towards him.

"What?" he asked, staring at Thalia suspiciously. Percy didn't know what he had done but suspected that he was about to get one of Thalia's famous death glares.

"You did not just throw in that drachma for an IM," she said furiously.

"Uh, yeah, I did. Didn't you see?" he turned back to the Iris Message and said, "Annabeth Chase. Athena Cabin, Camp Half Blood, Long Island, New York."

"Please tell me you have another drachma," Thalia replied, her voice dangerously cold.

"No, I don't. I just thought we could get Annabeth to bring whoever we needed to talk to into Athena cabin."

"I'm not talking about the Iris Message," said the girl in the same controlled tone.

Suddenly it dawned on Sholeh. "Oh my gods, Percy, you're such an _idiot_," she yelled, incensed.

"What? I don't see what the problem is—"

"We could have used that drachma to call the Grey Sisters' Cab," Thalia's patience finally snapped and she shook Percy like a rag doll, screaming. "WE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO WALK THE WHOLE DAMN WAY!"

"Oh," Percy said when Thalia finally let him go. His face fell. "I'm sorry, you guys. I totally didn't think of it—"

"Oh, just go to Tartarus, Percy," Sholeh snapped. Nico kicked a nearby tree in frustration.

"Why are we all angry at Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked from the Iris Message. The other demigods turned to her and all began to yell, trying to explain.

"Okay, slow down now," Annabeth had an amused smile on her face as Percy ran his fingers through his messy black hair.

"So, our van got trashed by partying centaurs in Des Moines. We have no money, since Nico accidentally deleted his DTM account. We ask our parents for help, and naturally we get none. So, we have to walk to Mount Tam. Keep in mind that's like 2,000 miles," Thalia began.

"1,795 miles, actually," Nico interjected.

"Whatever," Sholeh continued the story, getting a glare from Thalia. "So we start to walk to California. And this whole way, we've been fighting monsters, too. So about two seconds ago, Percy finds this stream and gets the bright idea to IM Camp Half Blood with a drachma we didn't know he had. The one and ONLY drachma we had," said Sholeh.

"And you could've called the Grey Sisters' Cab," Annabeth picked up.

"Exactly," replied Nico.

"Wow, Seaweed Brain. That's a new level of stupidity for you," said Annabeth.

"I know," groaned Percy.

"Well, we might as well use this IM before we run out of time," Thalia snapped. "What did you want to say to Annabeth, Percy?"

"Hi."

"THAT'S IT? THAT'S WHAT YOU SPENT OUR ONLY DRACHMA ON?" Sholeh and Nico had to grab Thalia's arms to prevent her from strangling Percy.

Hastily, Percy continued. "And that I miss her very much, and quests aren't the same without her, and if she were here, I probably wouldn't have been so stupid, because she's the smartest person I know. Not to mention the prettiest and nicest."

The other demigods were suddenly silent. Thalia stopped trying to attack Percy and stared at him in shock. Annabeth broke the silence.

"That's… that's… the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Percy," she gasped, at a loss for words for the first time. Percy blushed.

Thalia looked from Percy to Annabeth repeatedly, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "You… you two are TOGETHER?" she finally said when she found her voice once again.

"Yeah, didn't you know—?"

"No, how would I know?" Thalia replied, cutting off Percy. "I've been off fighting monsters with Artemis, haven't I? GODS! You two _finally_ get together, and don't even IM me?" She said, voice rising in a mix of anger and elation.

"Sorry. We forgot," replied Annabeth sheepishly.

"That's like forgetting to breathe," continued Thalia, who had gotten at least partial control of herself. "I expected better from you at least, Annabeth. All those good times together, roaming the country, did they count for nothing?" Thalia silenced the girl with a dramatic wave of her hand and spun around like an actor in a soap opera. It took Sholeh a moment to realized Thalia was kidding; she hadn't known the girl was able to joke.

The five demigods all laughed together, the tension of the past days lifting abruptly. When they finally caught their breath, Percy asked the others if they wanted to talk to anyone else.

"Oooh, yeah, Annabeth, could you please go get Leo?" Sholeh asked, eager to see the boy's face again, to hear his voice and comforting words. However, Annabeth's face fell suddenly as she went to go get Apollo's son.

Annabeth returned a minute later with a sympathetic look on her face, mingled with some apprehension. "Um, Sholeh?"

"Yeah? Where's Leo?"

"Leo said that he was busy." The trusting, naïve smile vanished from Sholeh's face.

"Did you tell him that I wanted to speak with him?" Sholeh asked, stressing the word 'I.' _It's a misunderstanding. He must've thought that it was someone else on the IM._

"Yes, I did. I'm really sorry—"

"Did you tell him that we used our last drachma on this Iris Message?" Sholeh's voice was commanding, but her eyes begged Annabeth to tell her that she was kidding, that Leo was right here, that he hadn't forgotten about her, that he still cared.

"Yes."

"Did you—"

"YES, Sholeh. I explained everything," Annabeth cut off the girl, her voice full of pity. Sholeh slowly turned and walked away, her face a mask covering the destroyed spirit beneath.

"Sholeh, wait!" Annabeth called. The other demigods were too shocked to move or speak. "You don't know what he's been like since you left. Leo was totally crushed, wouldn't leave his cabin—"

"Please deposit one additional drachma," came the cool voice of Iris.


	12. Demigods are SO much cooler than Titans

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 12: DEMIGODS ARE SO MUCH COOLER THAN TITANS**

"PERCY, FIND ANOTHER DRACHMA!" Nico yelled at him, frantically going through his own pockets at the same time. Percy ran over to his duffel bag and threw out a random assortment of clothes, blue cookies, fatal weapons, and sand from the beach.

"I can't find another!" he yelled back. Neither had noticed that Sholeh had already silently grabbed her duffel bag and continued walking. Thalia stood there, stunned for a few minutes before sprinting to catch up with Sholeh.

"Erm, hello," Thalia said quietly, reaching the distraught girl. She looked over at Sholeh's face and saw silent tears running down it. Most people cry in a blubbering, red-eyed, noisy uncontrolled mess. Sholeh, however, cried as if she were a marble statue. Her face became paler, fading to a pure white, and the tears rolled down it looking like tiny spheres of crystal. She was totally silent. Even her feet stepping on the foliage-covered ground didn't make the crackling noise that Thalia's did. Somehow, this made Thalia pity her all the more.

"Yes," Sholeh replied. Her voice did not quake, it was imperious and the tone ordered Thalia to stay. For the first time, Thalia followed someone's authority other than her own, and walked next to the girl.

"He just… I don't know," Sholeh sighed, wiping the crystalline tears from her face. Thalia gaped at the girl who always had a comeback for her insults, now at a loss for words.

"The night before we left on the quest, he wrote me a symphony. Symphony in F-sharp minor, written by Leo Eliot, dedicated to Sholeh Prometheus. And then, in tiny letters beneath the dedication, he wrote, 'the one and only light in my life.' He forced his siblings to play it for me. An entire symphony, can you imagine?" Sholeh finally spoke, finding it easier to speak through memories.

"I can't imagine, Sholeh. Which is also why I _know_ that he still cares for you," Thalia replied, shocked at her own words. Since when did she go around comforting random people? And not even random people, this was a girl she didn't even like.

"How would you?" replied Sholeh harshly. "You don't know Leo—" When Sholeh said his name a pang of depression went through her.

"Don't know Leo?" Thalia interrupted, grinning. "I do too know Leo! He was at Camp Half Blood right after I turned back into a human."

"Turned _back_ into a human?" Sholeh repeated incredulously. "As opposed to what?" she snorted. Thalia took this as a good sign; at least she had regained her sense of humor.

Ignoring Sholeh's question, she continued. "Leo would never… Sholeh, to be honest you're being so overdramatic--"

"No," Sholeh whispered, but the tone was so forceful that Thalia immediately stopped speaking. "You don't know what it's like to have someone like him. Someone who, whenever he smiles at me, I feel like my heart is about to burst. And then to find out that he doesn't care is…. Is torture. You couldn't know." Sholeh kept walking like a robot, forced to complete her mission despite the pounding thoughts inside her head.

Thalia sighed. "I went all over the country for years, Sholeh, with Annabeth, and Grover, and Luke. We had the most fantastic adventures and they were the people I belonged with. Then one day," Thalia paused here, as if the story was difficult for her to tell. Sholeh had heard about some of their escapades from Annabeth, but got the feeling that this one was going to be very different. She didn't know much about Thalia other than those few descriptions Annabeth gave her. "We were helping Grover get half bloods back to camp. We'd been chased all the way, and finally the monsters cornered us on a hill. We all knew that there was no way to escape."

"I turned around to fight off one of the monsters, when I saw Luke's face," Thalia's voice was strangled with emotion as she continued, "It was then I knew what I had to do. I made the others leave me. I could see them reaching the safety of Camp, and that was all I needed to see. I forfeited my life, but my friends were safe. I could die in peace."

"But I didn't. My father took pity on me and turned me into a pine tree," Sholeh gasped at this. She didn't know what kind of mercy this was supposed to be, but Sholeh was sure that she would never want it. "I was still a tree when everyone else found out that Luke had betrayed us. That _I_ had made the ultimate sacrifice- given my life- and he had betrayed us all, left us to die."

"So, yes, Sholeh, I do know what that feels like. And just as strongly, I know that Leo is not like Luke. He won't abandon you on that hill. And more importantly, he won't betray your trust," Thalia finished, leaving Sholeh at a loss for words. The daughter of Hades and Hestia suspected that this was the most eloquent speech Thalia had ever given. Sholeh stopped walking, finally released from her trance-like state, and looked Thalia right in her electric blue eyes.

"Thank you," said Sholeh. Her voice was sincere, as well as her gratitude.

Thalia gave an odd sort of cough. "Yeah, well, we left Percy and Nico back there with all our stuff. Come on," she said, turning as if their talk had never happened. Sholeh followed her with a smile. It was then that Thalia and Sholeh developed a strange sort of friendship. It was one filled with rivalry, disagreement, and yet had a quiet understanding.

"Where have you two been?" Percy asked suspiciously.

"We thought there was a monster up ahead, and went on to check it out," Thalia replied coolly, not missing a beat. "Luckily there wasn't one."

"Yeah," agreed Sholeh. "Well, come on, we haven't got all day." Nico and Percy shot confused looks at one another before running after the two girls, who were once again, ahead of them.

The band walked for another three hours, chatting about anything and everything. Sholeh began to feel as if they could really be a team, listening to Percy's stories and Thalia's jokes. The four, despite their many differences, had started to mesh together, and Sholeh liked the feeling. She could finally understand why other demigod's spoke of quests in such an enraptured way; it was the feeling of being accepted into a group.

Sholeh had never really been included into anything before. Before coming to Camp Half Blood, the mortals she met at school had always looked upon her with disdain. She was the girl with abnormally pale skin, who didn't even fake tan, who didn't talk much or read about celebrity gossip. It didn't help matters that she had been kicked out of too many schools to count, due to strange fire-related accidents. One counselor had proclaimed her to be a dangerous pyromaniac, and possibly an arsonist (even though she hadn't tried to make the bully's desk burst into flames and be swallowed up by the ground.)

Even after reaching Camp Half Blood, she'd only been really accepted by Leo, Percy, Annabeth, and Nico. Children of Hades were generally ignored, though not to as great an extent as the undetermined kids. Now, Sholeh felt a true sense of belonging, and the resulting happiness could only be marred by her doubts about Leo.

Three days later at noon, the four demigods could suddenly hear screaming and cheering.

"Is it a monster?" asked Sholeh. However, the sight of a college football field on which two teams were playing interrupted her musings. The home team was wearing red and white uniform and their opponents wore blue. Against their better judgment, the heroes walked toward the field to watch unnoticed for a while. It was then that Sholeh saw the team names on the scoreboard.

"Aw, come on," said Sholeh annoyed, pointing to the home team's name. "They're called the Titans? That is so not cool." The others looked just as irritated as Sholeh, and for good reason.

"I mean, we spend all this time fighting against the Titans to save civilization," she continued, "and then some stupid football players think it's a good team name. Seriously, if they knew what Kronos did, they would not think it's so great—"

The team's quarterback interrupted her angry rant. "Hey," said the bulky college student, taking off his helmet. Sholeh suddenly realized that it was half time now. "You got a problem with our team name?"

"Yeah, I do," Sholeh replied. "It sucks."

"What should we be called then?" the quarterback asked. He spoke slowly, as if it was hard to think of the words.

Sholeh grinned from ear to ear before answering, "The Demigods. That should _definitely_ be your team name." Sholeh turned and walked off with her friends, laughing.

"Watch them actually make that the team name," said Percy, after they finally stopped laughing.

"As if," scoffed Sholeh, "that would be great, though." The four had realized that there was a high school campus right off the woods they had been walking through, and were now ambling across it in hopes of finding food or transportation. They finally reached the entrance and saw a bike rack with exactly four bikes leaning on it. Stopping dead in their tracks, the demigods looked at each other.

"Guys…" Nico trailed off.

"I vote we take those bikes," said Sholeh decisively.

"That's stealing!" objected Percy.

"Who cares? I think we should consider those bikes a 'thank you' from mortals for saving the world," countered the girl. "I mean, it's a small price to pay for being safe from the evil Titan lord."

"It's not a 'thank you' if they don't actually give us permission!" replied a very frustrated Percy.

"I agree with Sholeh," said Thalia. When Percy angrily protested, she just said, "Stop being so _moral_, Seaweed brain. If it wasn't for you, we'd already be at Mount Tam—"

"I said I was sorry! And don't call me Seaweed brain!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, is that Annabeth's pet name for you?" Thalia sneered.

"Yes—Wait! No! Oh, whatever." Percy gave up in his quest for justice and let the others take the bikes.

" These are seriously convenient," said Sholeh before they took off on the bicycles, leaving in their wake four furious college students now without transportation.

The four demigods were much happier now that they didn't have to walk the remaining seven hundred miles. However, just as night began to fall, Nico, Percy, and Thalia wanted only to camp for the night and so Sholeh sped ahead to find a safe spot.

Sholeh's favorite time of day was twilight, but now the beautiful setting sun seemed bitter to her. Alone with her thoughts for the first time that day, she thought more and more about Leo. Suddenly, a terrible memory came to her.

"_Leo will forget all about you as soon as you leave_," two daughters of Aphrodite had told her. "_He'll abandon you for someone much prettier, like us_." Sholeh had brushed off the comment laughing, so sure that Leo would never do that. It had been inconceivable to her, but now….

"SHOLEH!" the very voice that consumed all her thoughts suddenly resonated through the forest. The girl slammed on the bicycle's brakes, swerving wildly and nearly falling off before coming to a clumsy halt.

Sholeh spun around to see that tan face and golden hair floating in an Iris Message in a puddle and shrieked, "Leo! Oh my gods…" He certainly looked the worse for wear. His hair was tangled, hanging into his face. A miserable frown was on his usually smiling lips, but his eyes made Sholeh almost cry out. Leo's eyes that sparkled with joy anytime she saw him were now devoid of any happiness.

"I'm sorry," said Leo, clearly agonized. Not knowing where she was, how she was, not even if she were alive. "But I had to—"

"Had to what, Leo?" Sholeh snapped. Part of the girl was elated just to see his face, to hear his voice, but her feelings were still wounded.

"Had to see you," he whispered. "I haven't lived, Firegirl, since you left," At this Sholeh's heart leapt, "Food was sour, music was out of tune, art was hideous to me."

"Why didn't you come when we Iris Messaged you?" Sholeh desperately wanted to believe him, but needed to know.

"I couldn't. I—" Leo sighed, and color rushed back into his face. He pushed his hair out of his eyes before continuing. "I thought that I could survive this. I was arrogant, just like my father."

"Leo… Leo," Sholeh whispered.

"Yes?"

"I just like to say your name," she smiled and suddenly the life flooded back into Leo's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Sholeh."

"I was so hurt," the girl desperately tried to justify herself, to explain to him what she had felt, but could not. Leo understood however, he had known that selfsame pain when Sholeh left.

"I know, anything… anything to show you," they were both at a loss for words to express their emotions, and yet knew exactly what they other wanted to say.

"I thought you didn't care anymore," Sholeh finally whispered her darkest fear to him, and all her worries rushed out of her. She sighed in relief of these burdens when he replied.

"That's impossible, Firegirl. I will always… whatever I need to do to prove to you just how much I—"

"I believe you, Leo," Sholeh was finally released of those haunting ideas that had tortured her for the past days. "I trust you, Casanova," she said, grinning hugely.

Leo cried out in joy, not even noticing the nickname. "I would kiss you, but unfortunately this is just an Iris Message," he said, with a smile equal to hers on his face. Sholeh suddenly became aware of the other demigods behind her.

"Whoa, hey there, you guys," she said awkwardly. "I, um, what… oh, whatever, how long have you been here for?"

"A while," replied Thalia, a sly smile on her face. "Not to say 'I-told-you-so' Sholeh, but well, I told you so."

"Told you what?" asked Leo.

"Hello to you too, Leo, great to see you. Thanks for asking how I was, I'm great, thanks," replied Thalia sarcastically. Obviously she knew Leo well.

"Hey, Thalia," he replied, though Leo was looking only at Sholeh.

"Guys?" asked Nico nervously. "Do you hear that?"


	13. Why Sholeh is Allowed to be Immature

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 13: WHY SHOLEH IS ALLOWED TO BE IMMATURE**

"What, Nico?" Sholeh asked, not really paying attention to her half brother.

"Listen!" he replied angrily and took a couple steps forward to look around a huge tree. Nico suddenly let out a gasp and motioned for the others to come forward.

"Hey!" Leo yelled. "Don't leave me here!"

"_Shut up_," hissed Thalia, looking around the tree. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Sholeh, you need to get over here."

"Okay," Sholeh ran silently over to the others, blowing Leo a kiss before ending the Iris Message. Nervously, she peered around the gigantic trunk of the tree and was just as shocked as the others.

The sound of clapping met Sholeh's ears immediately. It reminded Sholeh of the time when she had gone to a polo match with her foster family. There too, the audience didn't cheer or catcall, but clapped politely and reservedly. The difference was that at the polo match, there had been humans instead of monsters sitting in the stands.

The four demigods gaped into a clearing that had in the center what looked like a badminton court. However, instead of solid ground, the net rested on a bed of shining fire and light. An empousa and a figure made of light were playing badminton on the court, with the monster spectators cheering whenever a point was won. Looking down on the match from a lifeguard's high chair was the strangest person Sholeh had ever seen.

It was a tan man who seemed to be in his mid-forties and with spiky, pure white hair. His irises were a disturbing white, contrasting sharply and rather disturbingly with his deep black pupils. Generally, the gods on Olympus tried to change their fashion to the times, with varying levels of success. This man, however, seemed to have stopped trying somewhere in the seventeen hundreds. He wore an absurdly frilly, red coat that was covered in ruffles and the beige tight pants popular during the time period, along with the ridiculous buckled shoes. The man screamed with laughter whenever the player made of fire scored a point and clapped his hands like a three year old.

The band of heroes stood staring at the strangest picture they had ever seen, until the strange man caught sight of them.

"Aha!" he screamed in a high-pitched, childish voice, "We have guests!" Suddenly, monsters appeared behind the demigods and shoved them into the clearing.

"Uh oh," breathed Sholeh. They were completely surrounded, with no visible way of escape. The others had obviously noticed this too as Thalia swore and Percy and Nico looked alarmed.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" exclaimed the strange man in a singsong voice. "You are a little late for the tournament, but no matter!"

"What?" asked Percy, confused.

"Who the Hades are you?" Sholeh inquired bluntly, and the man giggled rather disturbingly.

"Forsooth, I am Hyperion," he replied, "I have finally been remembered by my Titan brothers, and have risen!" The man spoke as if he were in the time period of his clothes. The four demigods looked worriedly at each other.

"Erm, what's with the badminton net?" asked Percy. Thalia was meanwhile trying to find a way to escape, to no avail.

"Silly youth!" Hyperion cried, "After we destroy Olympus in a magnificent display of bloodshed, the Titans have promised that badminton will become our official sport, and it shall be played on the rotting bones of our foes!" The Titan looked mad with ecstasy at the idea. The demigods backed away in revulsion, only to be stopped by the monsters behind them. "The silly sports played today twill be no more!" Hyperion's spiky white hair stuck straight out and his white eyes widened in rapture.

"Marry, now you shall join in on the tournament!" Hyperion continued with manic enthusiasm when the demigods didn't reply.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, mo…" The Titan pointed his finger at each of the demigods with each syllable before the shining figure on the badminton court cleared his throat. Hyperion stared at the person before a look of realization dawned on his face.

"Oh, of course. Silly me! You, girl," the Titan said, now pointing at Sholeh, "will play the noble game of badminton against my son, Helios!" The monster behind Sholeh pushed her forward onto the court.

The fire immediately crawled up to her waist like a faithful dog greeting its owner. Sholeh thought for a moment that these flames were somehow hotter than most before another monster shoved a badminton racquet into her hand.

"What? Why me?" Sholeh asked Hyperion furiously, crossing her arms. "I am not going to play some crazy, pathetic excuse for a sport—"

Hyperion gasped and the happy smile instantly vanished from his face. "How. Dare. You!" the Titan yelled and shook his fist angrily. Beasts suddenly grabbed Nico, Percy, and Thalia from behind, and though the demigods struggled, they could not break free.

"Thou WILL play. As if I should want the spoiled little friend of _Apollo_," Hyperion seemed to spit out the god's name, "to play on my court. Thou, wench, will probably taint the noble sport, but what can I do?" the Titan looked to the shining figure of his son, Helios, for sympathy. "Unfortunately," he continued, now addressing Sholeh, "Thou, strumpet, are the only one who twill survive immortal fire." The girl suddenly realized that was why the flames felt hotter; this was the very same fire that lit the palaces of Olympus, the fire her mother tended.

Hyperion seemed to calm down suddenly. "I'm feeling generous," the Titan said, "so I will make thee a deal. If thee should win a match against Helios," at this Hyperion and the monsters laughed derisively, "I shall let you and your friends walk free. But when you lose—"

"If I lose."

Hyperion giggled shrilly. "I said 'when' because you _will_ lose. _When_ you lose, I get to kill your companions as the first sacrifices to the noble sport of badminton!"

Sholeh resisted the urge to scream that this was crazy, seeing Nico, Percy, and Thalia struggling in the monsters' grip to no avail. "Fine! You've got a deal!" she yelled furiously.

"Excellent!" Hyperion yelled and Helios served. It was only the sharp reflexes that Sholeh had honed at camp that allowed her to hit the birdie back over the net. She had only played badminton once or twice, and the birdie wobbled insecurely in the air. _Great,_ Sholeh thought, _now I need to win a badminton match against a freak made of light or else my friends will be murdered. Fun time._

Her musings were interrupted when Helios spiked the birdie into the ground. Sholeh dived to reach it, but missed. The monsters all began to cheer, but at a glance from Hyperion, resorted to clapping.

"Excellent, my son, simply magnificent!" Hyperion yelled from his high perch, "Just fourteen more points and we get a tasty dinner! This shouldn't take long," he confided to a nearby minion empousa.

Sholeh snuck a glance at Percy, Nico, and Thalia. They all looked frightened and not at all confident in her. _I'm not even confident in me_, she thought, _but I have to win_.

After losing ten more points and not winning a single one, Sholeh was furious and desperate. Helios deflected every hit with unnerving accuracy while the girl fumbled just to get the birdie over the net. All the time Hyperion spoke about the 'glorious days to come anon' in which Helios would regain his role as the sun and he himself would 'immortalize the sport of badminton in eternal glory.'

"Sholeh?" Percy asked with a tone of desperation, "Not to distract you or anything, but we're about to get eaten by monsters and a Titan whose voice sounds like a five year old. And I think that you'll agree that would be a sucky way to go."

"I know!" Sholeh was frustrated. _If it was an actual __fight__ instead of this stupid game, I could win, no problem. This is ridiculous._ "I'm trying!"

"Well, try harder!" Thalia screamed. Obviously the daughter of Zeus didn't like to be powerless as she was now.

Hyperion giggled inanely throughout the match but when Helios scored another point, making the score 12-0, the Titan's laughter was uncontrollable. Sholeh glanced Hyperion, who sat clapping his hands together and hopping up and down on his high chair. Sholeh was suddenly filled with indescribable rage. It blinded her to all but the Titan and sound was drowned out.

_This is __twisted__, _Sholeh thought, _making me responsible for my friends' lives when there's really nothing I can do. But I'll be damned if it works._

When the birdie came her way, Sholeh turned to face Hyperion. It burst into flame as the girl stared at it furiously and a plan suddenly popped into her head. Sholeh smacked the flaming birdie right at the Titan, who was so busy reveling in his glory to notice until it hit his head.

"Ow!" Hyperion cried at clutched his forehead. Unfortunately, in doing so, his ruffled sleeve brushed up against the birdie and caught on fire. The fire spread quickly, sensing Sholeh's anger, and Hyperion began to yell in real pain as he was burnt.

Sholeh sprinted to the other demigods, taking advantage of Hyperion's preoccupation. The monsters were momentarily stunned and Sholeh stabbed Thalia's captor, freeing her. Percy and Nico fought back also, destroying the monsters holding them in clouds of golden dust.

"Come on!" Sholeh yelled, taking off into the forest. She grabbed her bike, waiting for the others who reached her seconds later with hundreds of monsters on their tail. Thalia, Percy, and Nico hopped onto their bicycles with varying amounts of grace (Percy fell over twice) and the four heroes pedaled furiously to the sound of crackling leaves beneath them.

After two hours of hard riding in the dark, Sholeh, Nico, Percy, and Thalia had finally outrun the monsters, Hyperion and Helios. However, the heroes continued even after they had lost their pursuers, just in case. A full moon loomed overhead, lighting the forest with an eerie blue light. Sholeh and Nico could see perfectly of course; however, Percy and Thalia had run into several trees, which hadn't helped their quick escape.

Finally, the group of demigods could see a sign through the trees. They approached as silently as possible, although there was no one on the road. When Percy tried to tell them this, protesting 'no one goes for a pleasant drive in the country at two in the morning,' Thalia clamped her hand over the boy's mouth and dragged him over to see the road sign.

_Mount Tamalpais State Park, ¼ mile._

Percy broke free by kicking Thalia in the shin and exclaimed, "Finally! Gods, I never thought we'd get here!"

"Yeah, really," agreed Sholeh softly. She thought, however, _we're almost at the place where an evil Titan lord is plotting the destruction of civilization and may kill us. Do forgive me if I don't throw a party for the occasion._ Her thoughts had become gloomier since fighting Hyperion and witnessing just the power the Titans were mustering. However well trained the demigods at Camp Half Blood were, they were obviously outnumbered. And the monsters at Hyperion's badminton match weren't even their entire army.

"_Quiet_, you two," Thalia whispered, smacking Sholeh on the shoulder. Sholeh pushed Thalia into a tree in retaliation. "Stop it!" the daughter of Zeus protested.

"What?" Sholeh asked innocently. "I didn't push you," she continued, feigning surprise.

"Wow, Sholeh. That's really mature," jeered Thalia sarcastically.

"Okay, after fighting against a creepy badminton cult of monsters and lighting on fire a Titan who dresses and talks like Shakespeare," the girl countered, "I think that I am allowed to act like a little kid for two seconds."

"Yes, well you may not be alive to act so immaturely for much longer if you don't _shut up_," Zeus' daughter hissed back. "There is something moving out there."

The other three demigods froze. Sholeh's hand strayed to her dagger hidden in its sheath, and she saw the others similarly reaching for their weapons. The girl could hear a rustling in the bushes ahead and impulsively crept toward them. Thalia whispered furiously at her to get back, but Sholeh motioned for her to be quiet and continued forward.

Gripping her blade tightly, the demigod advanced until she could grasp the branches of the shrubs behind which she suspected their follower was. Sholeh pulled the bush back and aimed her dagger for the person's throat. She, however, found a loaded bow at her chest and stared into the silvery eyes of the goddess of the hunt.

"Lady Artemis!" exclaimed Thalia. The young looking goddess surveyed the group of heroes slowly, though her eyes rested on Sholeh. It was only then that Artemis realized that, although she could shoot Sholeh with the arrow so close to her chest, the demigod had her celestial bronze dagger at her throat. Sholeh defiantly looked at the goddess, who abruptly chuckled and put down her weapon.

"You have spunk, little child of fire," Artemis laughed. "Much like myself." Sholeh, on the other hand, did not seem happy at all to be compared to the goddess.

"Why are you here?" interrupted Thalia, a little unkindly. The daughter of Zeus had enjoyed the Hunt in the first year she joined and missed it while on the quest. Thalia was irritated that Artemis, the goddess she had faithfully served, hadn't even spoken one word to her. Instead, she showed a strange interest in Sholeh.

Artemis glanced at her, and Thalia knew that she understood. "Sorry," the demigod apologized and the goddess nodded knowingly.

"I am here," Artemis proclaimed, "to take you to Kronos' lair."


	14. Incest, Much!

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 14: INCEST, MUCH!**

"Sounds good to me," Sholeh replied brightly. All four demigods had been wondering how they would possibly get past the Hesperides and their dragon to reach Kronos' lair. Last time they had entered, Zoë had suffered the wound that led to her downfall by the dragon, and she had even known him.

"How?" Nico asked suspiciously. "I thought you weren't supposed to interfere with quests?"

Artemis stared at Nico with disgust and made a noise that sounded like she had phlegm in the back of her throat. "Stupid boy," the goddess scoffed, "It's night, the time I drive my chariot across the sky. And not all Olympians agree with that rule. As much as my father may pretend it is not, this quest is about more than entertainment. The fate of Olympus rests on you four's shoulders, though I shudder at the thought of two of the heroes being male."

Sholeh was angered by Artemis' condescending attitude and turned furiously to her, arms crossed. "Hey," she began, "Nico is my half brother. You can't treat him like dirt just because he's a boy."

The goddess scowled at Sholeh, her hand straying to her silver bow. "Oh, I forgot, you are one of those silly _feminine_," Artemis spit out the word angrily, "girls. Involved with that _stupid_ son of my _stupid_ twin."

"Leo is not stupid! —" Sholeh replied angrily, with dangerously flashing eyes.

"So much untapped potential," continued Artemis, cutting Sholeh off. "If you would only give up boys—"

"Oh, gods, you're just like my mother. And I'm not going to become one of your idiotic, self-absorbed hunters, if that's what you're suggesting!" yelled the daughter of Hades and Hestia, oblivious to Thalia's presence.

"Hey!" protested Zeus' daughter angrily.

"Sorry," Sholeh hastily apologized. "But you can be a little bossy, sometimes, you know—"

"Me? Bossy? Look who's talking!" Thalia looked outraged.

"You think I'm bossy?" Sholeh shrieked. Percy and Nico slowly backed away, muttering 'oh gods.' They had seen Thalia and Sholeh fight too many times to not see one coming. Their heads bobbed back and forth, watching each girl and waiting for the big explosion. Artemis stood with her arms crossed between the two to prevent a major argument or brawl, though she still glared at Sholeh.

"Let's think… yes, yes I do believe that you are bossy," Thalia's arched eyebrows dared Sholeh to disagree.

"At least my dad doesn't force his own brother into a job no one wants!" Sholeh yelled. Thalia looked confused and she continued, "Oh come on! Who would want to be Lord of the Dead? So your dad just made my dad live there—"

"What? My dad is a leader! Sometimes people have to do things they don't want to for the sake of the group—" Thalia retorted.

"Oh, like striking down whoever he doesn't like with lighting? Was that for the greater good too?" Sholeh jeered.

"At least my dad didn't have to kidnap his wife!"

"Your dad married his sister! INCEST, MUCH!" Sholeh screamed and gestured wildly with her hands, provoking a dramatic gasp from Thalia.

"Oh, no you didn't—" Thalia lunged at Sholeh, but was stopped by an exasperated Artemis standing in the way.

"Not another cat fight," muttered Nico to Percy. "Ten drachmas say that Sholeh wins."

"You want me to bet on a fight between our two friends?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"_Nice_. Thalia is so going to win. She's Zeus' daughter for crying out loud. And have you seen Aegis? Twenty drachmas." The two boys furtively shook hands, watching the two girls fighting yet again.

Fifteen minutes, many angry insults, and two grudging apologies later, the four demigods were walking through the moonlit forest once again. Artemis led them deeper into the woods, claiming that the chariot from which she lit the night sky and her hunting hounds were close.

Sholeh, however, felt uneasy about moving farther and farther away from Mount Tamalpais, especially on the command of a goddess who so clearly disliked her. Although Sholeh dreaded actually reaching Kronos' lair, she wanted only to return to Camp Half Blood. _The sooner we get to the mountain, they sooner we'll get back to Leo_, though Sholeh, _and the relative normality of Camp. _Inwardly laughing at her claim of Camp Half Blood being 'normal,' her thoughts continued._ At least I don't have to fight the Titan equivalent of the Human Torch at badminton there._

"Are we there yet?" whined Nico for the millionth time (or at least it seemed like it to Sholeh.)

"No!" his half sister cried out.

After five minutes, he asked yet again. "Are we there _now_?" Nico was clearly tired, hungry and sick of walking. They all were.

"Yes. These trees that look identical to every other tree we've seen so far mark the spot," said Sholeh snidely, but Nico missed the sarcasm.

"Really?" his voice was eager.

"NO! For the bazillionth time, NO!" Sholeh yelled and Nico's face fell.

"Bazillionth, Sholeh? Really? Last time I checked that wasn't in the dictionary," Thalia laughed derisively.

"Shut up," Sholeh hissed back, "I-used-to-be-a-pine-tree girl."

Thalia was about to protest loudly when the four demigods were suddenly blinded by silver light. Covering their eyes, the band walked cautiously forward, looking for Artemis.

"Sorry, one minute," the goddess' voice came from a clearing up ahead. The high-pitched _beep-beep_ of a car alarm being turned off echoed eerily through the forest and suddenly the light began to fade. The demigods advanced, pushing away branches until they reached the nearby glade. In the center, they saw Lady Artemis with one hand on the hood of a silver Hummer. Through the blacked-out windows of the trunk, Sholeh could spot a couple panting and slobbering dogs that started to bark viciously when the half bloods walked toward the car.

"This is the moon," said Artemis, with a sly smile, "figuratively speaking."

"Are we going to ride in it?" Sholeh asked dreamily, still entranced by the car. Somehow, Artemis' Hummer was more awe-inspiring than Apollo's sports car; maybe it was the fact that the god's was mostly for appearance's sake, while his sister's was clearly used for hunting. The front wheels were covered in mud and the vehicle seemed downright powerful.

"Yes," said Artemis simply, taking the wheel. Nico, Sholeh, and Percy piled into the back, with Thalia taking the seat of honor next to Artemis. Thalia's face was strangely pale and her black eyeliner-rimmed eyes were wide with terror. Only Percy knew that Thalia, rather ironically, was afraid of heights.

"Wait, does this car fly too—" began Sholeh, but the tremendous roaring of the engine interrupted her. Artemis put the huge, shining vehicle into gear and it took off surprisingly gracefully into the air, considering its size. It rose steeply until they were above the clouds and Sholeh stared out her window.

The white clouds were in striking contrast to the blackest sky she had ever seen. The stars twinkled mystically and a reverent hush fell over the group. That is, until Sholeh's ear got an unexpected bath.

"Ew!" she screeched when one of Artemis' hunting hounds began to thoroughly lick the left side of her face. Shoving the saddened dog off her, Sholeh wiped the slobber off and tried to silence her friends' laughter. They all found it hilarious, but Sholeh did not. In fact, the girl was terrified of all dogs.

"It's not funny," she complained, eyes still wide with fear. "Thalia, can I switch places with you? I don't want to be near these rabid… things." Artemis did not look happy at all that Sholeh offended her immortal hunting hounds, but did not comment.

"No, you cannot," replied Thalia, who sat with her eyes tightly shut and hands gripping, white knuckled, the side of her seat.

It took little less than an hour for them to reach the summit of Mount Tamalpais. Artemis parked, or rather, landed the car behind a grove of trees so that Kronos' lurking minions wouldn't see it. The four demigods reluctantly got out, not looking forward to being in danger once again.

With forced bravado, Sholeh said, "Thanks for the ride. Evil Titan Lord, here we come!" She hoped that no one else noticed the tremble in her voice.

Percy gave a sort of half coughing laugh and began to steer the group towards the looming, black and quite frankly, evil looking fortress ahead. Lady Artemis, however, called out and they all turned around.

"Remember the prophecy!" the goddess yelled, before revving the engine. "Even though my brother is an idiot, his prophecy's are not, most of the time. Apollo will pick you up if you get out by sunrise. And don't let the boys make you do anything stupid!" and with those eloquent final words, she and her Hummer vanished.

The four demigods stared at each other rather sadly before beginning to walk towards the menacing fortress. To Sholeh's eye, it looked more like a giant mausoleum rather than a fortress, and she could not help wondering if the Lord of Time himself sat inside it, plotting their doom. _Probably_, she thought, _I guess planning the doom of Olympus is his MO. Its just too bad he includes us on the 'Olympus' list._

"Well, here goes nothing," said Percy, breaking into a jog towards the palace.

"No," said Sholeh softly, running beside him, "here goes _a lot_. The fate of Olympus rest on our shoulders, remember?"

After five minutes of jogging, the four demigods arrived at the huge mahogany doors rather out of breath. The altitude limited their oxygen supply, which they hadn't realized and the heroes were disturbed to see how hard they were panting.

"Er, so what do we do? Just knock?" Sholeh asked, reaching out a hand to knock on the door.

Thalia grabbed her hand before she could do so, however, and angrily said, "What, so you can alert Kronos to the fact that we're here, trying to figure out his plan? Come get us, Titan Lord! Why not just serve yourself on a silver platter with an apple in your mouth?"

Sholeh felt rather stupid and sheepishly withdrew her hand. "I thought so," crowed Thalia triumphantly.

"What should we do then?" asked Percy. It was clear that he hadn't been concerned with knocking on the door, either.

"Just go in! Honestly, this is war people. There's no time for manners—" Thalia's rant was interrupted by the sinister creaking of the door as it mysteriously swung open.

"Okay…" Thalia sighed and took a step inside. Sholeh was suddenly filled with a paralyzing fear. _This isn't __right__,_ was all she could think, over and over. She grabbed Thalia's arm to pull her back, but the girl angrily shook her off.

"What?"

"This… we shouldn't…" Sholeh could almost scream in frustration. Didn't the others realize? There was something so inherently _wrong_ about entering.

"I feel it, too," Nico whispered. "He… shouldn't be alive, but he is." Sholeh nodded in agreement.

"And I think he knows…" Sholeh trailed off, realizing how flimsy their argument sounded. Thalia raised an eyebrow and Percy looked similarly skeptical.

"Well, if you too have finished being so dark and mystical and creepy," Thalia said slowly, as if Sholeh and Nico were small children who could only understand simple sentences, "you may remember that we all have a quest to finish." Sholeh was infuriated. _Just because she can't feel it_, she thought, _she won't believe me. _

Percy noticed Sholeh's irritation and muttered, "I know," before following Thalia into the pitch-black interior of the fortress.

Sholeh and Nico were left alone outside and they threw each other worried glances before plunging into the darkness.

The children of Hades' eyes were immediately accustomed to the shadows inside and could see perfectly. Thalia, however, walked straight into a pillar earning a derisive snicker from Sholeh. The daughter of Hades and Hestia looked around at the room they were in with awe. The walls were made of a dark mahogany, almost black, which twinkled with a faint and eerie light, though Sholeh didn't see where the light was coming from. Engravings in gold of the Titans lined the walls and the girl noticed a huge coffin in the center of the room. In front of the coffin was an empty altar. Suddenly, she heard resonating and strong footsteps coming from a corridor on the far right, and Sholeh dragged her companions behind a huge golden statue of Kronos.

Percy tried to ask her what was going on, but Sholeh motioned for him to listen and the boy's eyes widened in fright. The footsteps were quickly becoming louder and Sholeh could tell that there were indeed three people coming.

When the demigods could not bear their unprotected wait anymore, the footsteps stopped to be replaced with a terrible voice, like metal grating on stone; the sound of anger and pain and hatred.

"Who is this," the voice said slowly, ringing horribly in each half blood's mind.

Only Percy recognized who it was and he mouthed the name to his three companions. "_Kronos_" his lips moved to form the word and then Percy added, "_In Luke's body._"

Thalia's face abruptly drained of all color. Sholeh expected to see sadness in her eyes, or the last vestiges of love for the man who betrayed her, but saw only hatred and grief. The daughter of Zeus shook with fury, but controlled her anger enough to keep them hidden.

Sholeh peered around the statue, inexplicably blending in with the shadows, to see the strong and fresh body of a sandy-haired man with a long scar down his face in the center of the dark room. He carried a scythe that glinted dangerously and somehow evilly and stood above the body of a young girl. _Luke_, Sholeh thought with anger for the traitor, and yet there was in her heart a strange emotion like fascination. Beside him stood one of the dracaenae, hissing with forked tongue darting in and out of its mouth.

"One who wishes to join our cause," the dragon woman replied, motioning to the girl who sat, crying on the ground.

"Weak," Luke said, and yet Sholeh innately knew that it was not he, "but we welcome all. Unlike those pathetic, cowering gods."

"Yessss, master," came the dracaena's reply.

"She will go to the other recruits soon. But now, I wish to speak to her. Be gone!" The dragon woman slithered resentfully away as Luke bent down to look at the girl. It was only then that Sholeh realized with a pang who it was. The traitor was none other than Silena Beauregard, the stuck up daughter of Aphrodite who had once kissed Percy without his permission, who had never wielded a sword and cringed at the sight of dirty fingernails.

"Do you remember me?" Luke asked. For a moment, the voice was almost human, but Silena only sobbed louder and all trace of what Luke had been vanished.

"Stop crying," he commanded in that same sickening voice and Silena stopped with a hiccup. "Yes. Now, have you done as I told you?"

"Y-y-yes," Silena's voice was shaky; "I let Tethys into camp on Fireworks Beach and left at night."

"Did you see the four children of my sons?" Kronos asked eagerly.

"No, no… Why?" Silena seemed to have composed herself at least partially and now looked suspiciously at Luke's face.

"I won't tell you, my dear… Or perhaps…. Yes. The one half blood girl, stronger than the others is of much significance to my plan. I'll let you in on the secret," Luke's handsome face leaned in nearer to Silena and stared into her eyes menacingly. "She _will_ be the one to destroy the gods." Sholeh felt a chill run down her spine and the others staring at her, terrified.

"Who, Sholeh?" Silena asked condescendingly.

"Yes, the daughter of Hades and Hestia. She is the one, I know it. How could she not? The girl whose father, Hades, was forced to rule the Underworld for all eternity, forever scorned, and whose mother, Hestia, was pushed out of the Twelve Olympians so that Dionysus could rule." Luke looked thrilled with his own power and his voice rose in ecstasy.

"And I see much, child, that is to come. I have peered into her heart and I know that this Sholeh girl will wield my own scythe to cast the gods into eternal oblivion." And suddenly, Kronos' high, cold laughter was echoing around the room and working its way, like furls of smoke, into Sholeh's mind.

"How do you… know all this?" Silena sounded skeptical, but afraid of being openly doubting lest she invoke Kronos' wrath.

"Oh, I know so much, girl. Things that you wouldn't believe," Kronos' voice resonated, and Sholeh knew in that instant that he was talking only to her. "For example, I know that she and her foolish friends are here, right now."


	15. Cheshire Cats and Complications

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 15: CHESHIRE CATS AND COMPLICATIONS**

"Oh, Styx," was all Sholeh could get out before the golden statue hiding them shattered into a million pieces. Shielding her eyes from the worst of it, the girl fell ungracefully backwards and desperately tried to get a glance of her friends. Suddenly, there was searing pain across the left side of her face and hot, metallic blood dripped into Sholeh's eyes. Reaching to feel the wound, a golden shard had made a shallow cut into her cheek, and although it was not deep, it bled profusely. That one moment was one of utter chaos, but Sholeh suddenly knew what to do. Blinded momentarily, the girl groped for her friends, and grabbing someone's hand yelled, "Follow me!" Sholeh dragged the person away from the destroyed statue and prayed that the others were following.

"Shit, shit, shit," Sholeh muttered, blinking blood out of her eyes. She hurtled headlong across the room, suddenly pushed by an invisible hand. The girl slammed into the mahogany wall and felt sudden, intense, pain in her ankle. Sholeh wiped the remaining blood off her face to see that the ankle was sprained and that Luke, or Kronos, was fast approaching, a malicious grin creeping across his face. Nico, Percy, and Thalia stood not far off, though too far to save her from the Titan, and they were desperately fighting off a horde of empousae and dracaenae.

And suddenly Luke was upon her, and she was dragged to her feet; then up the wall, suspended only by his viselike, freezing grip around her neck. Sholeh's hands scrabbled for her dagger, but Kronos grabbed it from her and stared into her wide eyes. For the first time in her life, there was true terror reflected in their orbs, though it was mingled with hatred and that which was most unlikely; defiance.

"SHOLEH!" Nico screamed, but to the girl, it sounded as if he were yelling from underwater. Sholeh was slowly choking, unable to even make a sound, her mouth opening and closing like a fish in silent panic. And then Luke, with a knowing smile, released Sholeh just before she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen and a wave of rage crashed over her. Disturbingly scarlet blood effused down her face, dripping from strands of her hair into her eyes and covering her face like a red veil.

Luke emitted a horrible scream, clawing at his clothes and body, which had spontaneously burst into flame. Sholeh lifted her eyes just enough to gaze upon the sight with a dark satisfaction, a smile creeping across her lips. She ripped off a piece of her shirt, wiped the blood hastily off her face, and then formed a makeshift bandage. Wincing in pain, Sholeh pulled herself up, her sprained ankle wobbling dangerously. Sholeh let out a tiny cry of agony when she took a step, which alerted Luke.

"It's me, its Luke," he screamed in terror. Sholeh stared at him blankly. "I'm not Kronos! Please, please! Mercy! It's me!"

"And this is me," she replied, her voice crackling with power like the fire consuming Luke, "letting you burn." Sholeh picked up her dagger off the floor and calmly walked past the boy writhing in agony.

"GUYS!" Sholeh yelled, running towards them. Thalia was bravely holding off three empousae, a truly amazing feat. Percy fought against the dracenae at her back, while Nico commanded ghosts to rise and attack any stray monster the other two couldn't reach. They all turned and sprinted towards her, mercilessly finishing off any beasts in their way.

"Follow me!" Her mind swimming with pain and vision going black at the edges, Sholeh ran to the corridor Kronos had come from, the three other demigods running behind her.

"How the Hades do you know where we're going?" screamed Thalia.

"I don't really, I have a feeling!" Sholeh yelled and indeed she innately knew that if they followed this path, they might have a chance, however slim, of seeing daylight again.

"WHAT?" Thalia shrieked. The girl loathed taking orders to begin with; it was even worse if those commands were based on a 'feeling' and had four lives at stake. "That whole deal with Kronos' plan and the scythe—Prove that we can trust you!"

Sholeh spun around after a surprised Minotaur in the corridor burst into flames and then golden dust. "I can't," she replied calmly, "You're just going to have to take a leap of faith, Thalia." Sholeh stared into the other girl's eyes for a moment and Thalia sighed.

"What's the plan?" she asked, causing Sholeh to grin as she stabbed a dracenae with her dagger.

"Um…"

"Don't tell me, you have a feeling."

"We should be trying to kill that bastard Luke!" Percy screamed.

"Technically, Percy, we're all bastards," laughed Sholeh, though her eyes were grim.

"But Sholeh, didn't he burst into flames? Maybe he's already dead," Nico said hopefully.

"No, he's not," Sholeh replied. Somehow she knew that Luke was far from dead. Percy was right, they should try to save Olympus, and it was what was right…. The last phrase struck a chord in Sholeh's memory.

_To save Olympus they must do what is wrong._

Percy turned back towards the atrium where they had seen Luke, but Sholeh grabbed his arm. "No! Remember the Oracle! We just need to get out!"

Percy, Nico, Thalia, and Sholeh slowly fought their way down the tunnel. It was slow progress because monsters kept attacking them from all around. The four were deeply discouraged; the corridor had no end in sight, just the endless army of monsters. _No matter how many we kill_, though Sholeh, _there will always be more. And when we die, we don't come back. Oh gods,_ she prayed, _please, please, let me not have just led my friends to their doom. Please let my intuition be right. _

And then Sholeh saw the most terrible vision. Her friends were all killed, one by one, in horrible detail and as they died, they cried out, "Sholeh! This is your fault!" Tears streamed down her cheeks and try as she might, Sholeh could not turn away from the sight. _All my fault_, she mentally screamed. But then pain from her ankle shot up her entire body, and the hallucination vanished. The three demigods were alive and Sholeh could see not far off, the two sons of Ares and Aphrodite, Phobos and Deimos in matching leather jackets, cackling at Sholeh's fear.

Suddenly, the tunnel took a sharp turn and light blinded the four. Stumbling forward, they were suddenly amazed that no monsters were in front of them; they were home free, they would make it out alive, until a sobbing figure ran straight into Sholeh.

She immediately collapsed. The pain in her ankle had reached a climax and combined with the sudden shock, Sholeh's legs just gave out. Rubbing her head, the girl looked up into the reddened, mascara-stained eyes of Silena.

"You okay, Sholeh?" asked Percy anxiously. The monsters had caught up to them and the other three demigods were too busy fighting them to see who Sholeh had run, literally, into.

"Yeah," replied Sholeh, though she doubted if she would be able to walk any longer because the pain in her ankle was so great.

Turning to Silena, who was sobbing and staring at Percy, Sholeh asked softly, so the others wouldn't hear, "Why, Silena?"

The girl raised her eyes to look at Sholeh. "B-b-because I…" her voice trailed off to nothingness, but she forced herself to continue. Silena motioned for Sholeh to lean forward and whispered into Sholeh's ear, "I'm in love with Percy. B-b-but he l-loves Annabeth."

"Ironic, really," whispered Sholeh and Silena nodded vigorously. "You being a daughter of Aphrodite."

"And L-L-Luke promised t-that I could have P-Percy when we win the w-w-war," Silena managed to say before she collapsed, crying harder than ever. Sholeh was amazed by the girl's stupidity. _How could she possibly believe that they would let her have Percy? _Sholeh though in amazement, _The Titans want to kill Percy, not save him for whichever love struck girl betrays Camp_. But then a handsome face with chocolate eyes and a white smile appeared in Sholeh's mind and she thought only, _unrequited love._ _That's terrible._

"Sholeh!" yelled Thalia, pointing to the blinding light at the end of the corridor. "That is the exit, right?"

Sholeh made the three last monsters explode into flames and screamed back, "Yes! We need to hurry and get out just as the sun rises though, so Apollo can pick us up!"

"You got it!"

Sholeh pulled herself up by clawing at the wall, and grabbed Silena's arm. "Come on, you're coming with us to Camp," she said.

"B-but I'm a traitor," Silena cried.

"Well, you don't belong here," Sholeh growled. "And anyone who thinks that you don't deserve a second chance can deal with me." Leaning heavily on Silena, Sholeh limped off behind her friends.

"GET THEM!" came the terrible voice of Kronos and turning, Sholeh could see Luke's form leading another horde of monsters. Percy and Nico ran back to keep the monsters away from Sholeh, who obviously couldn't make a quick escape. The two girls walked so slowly, creeping along to the door, closer to the blinding light, which was the outside world.

They were so close when suddenly Silena fell. Sholeh turned to see Luke, his terrible scythe embedded in the daughter of Aphrodite's back, Silena's eyes wide and unseeing. And then a faint shimmering rose from the girl's mouth and it was drawn, as if by magnetic force, to the scythe. Silena emitted a horrible gargle, as if she were choking as her soul was slowly and painfully ripped from her. Sholeh stared, her mind barely processing the information, and unable to tear her eyes from the sight. Finally, Nico grabbed her arm, screaming that they had to get out, they had to go on and Sholeh was limping slowly towards the exit. Even when the group finally reached the exit, she was still watching Silena's sickening death and Luke standing over her, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"Where's Apollo?" yelled Percy. Sholeh looked desperately around; it was indeed early morning, just as the sun was rising, and there was no sign of the god.

"Styx," she muttered, and then replied, "Artemis said that he would be here!" The four demigods could hear the monsters coming down the passage, and Sholeh clenched her eyes tightly. Suddenly, a raging fire appeared at the entrance, blocking the monsters from coming.

"Nice," said Nico.

"I can't hold it for long," Sholeh replied, with gritted teeth. She was honestly on the edge of collapse. Her ankle had long stopped hurting; it was now in agonizing pain. Her vision swam and black dots appeared at the edges. "Not now," she murmured to herself, "You're a soldier, Sholeh, and a good one. Not now."

The four demigods all looked at each other before screaming together, "LORD APOLLO!" They continued in various ways, yelling and bribing the god, trying to get him to rescue them, but it was to no avail.

"We're going to die here," muttered Nico, and an idea suddenly came to Sholeh.

"Lord Apollo, get down here and I'll kiss you!" she screamed, and a smoking (literally) red sports car appeared, with the carefree god inside, waving happily.

"There's the magic words," Apollo called out, just as Sholeh's barrier of fire disappeared and monsters burst through. Sholeh ran as fast as she possibly could, leaning on Nico's shoulder towards the car. Percy and Thalia jumped into the backseat, not bothering to open the door. Nico hopped over the low sides of the car and Sholeh tried to do the same, but her sprained ankle didn't allow for a graceful jump. The girl was caught sitting in the car, but her wounded leg was stuck on the outside handle. Percy tried to pull her in just as the sun car took off and Sholeh gave a cry of pain when her already sprained ankle was twisted further.

"Ow, ow, ow, Styx, Percy, LET GO!" she screamed at a very confused Percy who had thought he was helping. "My ankle is stuck!" Sholeh leaned forward to try and untangle her foot, but instead, almost fell out. Nico grabbed her arm to steady Sholeh and she finally freed herself.

Flopping back into the car with a loud _thump_, Sholeh grabbed the nectar from Percy. After taking a long swig, she said dryly, "Not my most graceful moment."

"So, dudes, what's up?" asked Apollo gaily.

"What's up?" asked Thalia irately. "What's UP? Well, let's think. We just invaded the fortress of an evil Titan lord, almost got killed _again_, I think my finger is broken where Percy smashed it with his sword—"

"Sorry," said Percy sheepishly.

"So what else is up, guys?" continued Thalia.

"I sprained my ankle, Kronos smashed me into a wall, and then pinned me to that wall by my neck," Sholeh chimed in. The nectar had already begun to heal her and the pain in her ankle had been reduced to a dull throb. Even the cut on her forehead had stopped bleeding, but Sholeh was afraid that the dirty cloth she had put over it would infect it. "Apollo, what should I do about this cut on my head?"

The god spun around to see it, provoking a gasp from Thalia as he had clearly 'taken his eye off the road.' "Wash it off, hon, with this," he said, producing a wet towel.

"That's it?" she asked, dabbing at the wound. Apollo nodded, turning back to the wheel. "By the way, Helios kind of wants his job back."

"Oh, whatever, man," the god replied with a lazy motion of his hand. "He can have it. I'd totally be cool with just being the god of music, truth, prophecy, and the arts. Total pain to get up so early every morning, especially when there's someone at home, if you know what I mean," Apollo continued, winking. Sholeh resisted a very strong urge to smack herself on the forehead out of embarrassment. "But the car _is_ sick."

Looking down on the earth, Nico saw a very unfamiliar landscape. "Uh, Lord Apollo?" he asked, "This totally doesn't look like America."

"Well, that's because its not," Apollo replied as if it were obvious. "This is, let's see," he continued, looking down, "Iran. We are over Iran."

"Why exactly are we over Iran?" asked Thalia irritably.

"Well, I can't just mess up the whole daylight thing just to get you all to camp!" Apollo exclaimed, adding, "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Duh."

"So we have to fly over the entire world. _Great_," said Sholeh. "Well, I'm going to sleep now, seeing as I haven't in like two days. Wake me up when we get there."

The roar of an engine awakened Sholeh as the sun car touched down at Camp Half Blood. "Whaaa—" she said sleepily, her eyes rebelliously refusing to open.

"Come on, Sholeh," said Thalia.

"Okay, fine," the girl replied angrily and forced herself to get up. The four demigods all quickly got out of the car, eager to see their friends again and glad to have finally finished the quest.

"Hey!" Apollo called, annoyed. "You owe me a kiss, Sholeh!"

The girl just laughed and began to walk away, her ankle almost fully healed. "I lied," she laughed and the sun car vanished in an intense bright light.

"Thank the gods _that's_ over," muttered Percy.

Sholeh nodded, smiling happily. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it was true. Everything, from the strawberry fields to Ares cabin seemed beautiful and perfect. Because at least she had made it back, with every member of the quest still alive. And what was more, they had possibly, for once, defied the Oracle's prediction.

But then Sholeh's heart stopped, because standing not far down the road was a golden haired boy, showing a newly determined daughter of Apollo to her new cabin. Leo stopped suddenly, seeing Sholeh return, and stood stock-still. He was there, waiting for her, and Sholeh's heart almost burst with such indescribable joy. Leo was there for her, like he had always been and always would be.

Sholeh sprinted as fast as she could down the road, grinning from ear to ear, her hair streaming behind her like the flames of a blowtorch. She slammed into Leo and his arms enveloped her in a fierce hug. Their lips met briefly before she whispered slowly, carefully, into his ear, "Oh my gods."

"I've missed you, firegirl," Leo simply replied, "So much. It was unbearable. We all were about to give up hope that you would come back."

Sholeh laughed, pulling away from his hug to look at him. He looked even worse than he had the last time she saw him over the Iris Message. Clearly, Sholeh's absence had had a huge impact on him. "I just talked to you over IM three days ago! Aren't you being a little overdramatic?"

"Sholeh," Leo said cautiously, "It's been almost six months since that Iris Message."


	16. One True Hero

CHAPTER 1: THANK THE GODS FOR BUBBLES

**CHAPTER 16: ONE TRUE HERO**

"What?" Sholeh asked harshly, pulling away immediately. "What do you mean, Leo?"

"I mean, you've been gone for six months," he replied, shaking slightly.

"No, we were in Mount Othrys for only a couple hours. Three _hours_ at the very most."

"Look, I'm telling you that somehow you weren't. Kronos is the Lord of _Time_, Sholeh," Leo said angrily. "He must've changed something, or his fortress has a weird time zone—"

"This is some kind of joke." Sholeh couldn't believe what he was saying; somehow, anyhow he was wrong. Because in the back of her brain, something told her that there was a vital reason they couldn't have been gone for so long. Sholeh felt as if she were groping for some long lost object, underwater, blind and drowning.

"No, it's not. Ask anyone," Leo whispered.

And suddenly the reason came to Sholeh. "What's the date, Leo?" she asked quietly, praying to any god who would listen that Leo was wrong.

"May seventeenth." Leo stared into Sholeh's wide eyes, which were scared and a pale blue in color. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I'm sixteen."

"The prophecy—" was all Leo could say before he gulped noisily for air. He took a step back in disbelief before mentally reprimanding himself. _What are you doing?_ He thought, _Sholeh needs you now. She's obviously scared and you should be acting strong, even if you aren't_, he continued with a crooked inner smile.

"Well, that's OK," Leo said suddenly, intertwining his right hand with Sholeh's and picking up her duffel bag in the other. "In fact, that's great!" he added enthusiastically.

Sholeh just stared at the boy, confused and skeptical. "Remind me how that's great again," she said gloomily.

"Well, for one thing, you're now the same age as me," Leo said brightly. "So now I won't feel as if I'm taking advantage of your naivety and youth!"

At this Sholeh laughed raucously. "You totally never thought you were taking advantage of me!"

"You're right," Leo replied mock embarrassed, scuffing his shoe against the ground and grinning widely.

"As if you could even take advantage of me if you tried," said Sholeh, poking Leo in the stomach.

"I so could," he grumbled and kissed her on the forehead.

"Bet you couldn't," Sholeh leaned into Leo and inhaled deeply, trying to memorize his scent, which was grass, ink (from the many music compositions he wrote), rosin (this was the distinct smell of all children of Apollo), the light salty sweat on his skin, and raspberries (his favorite fruit.) Sholeh tried to remember how this felt, to be held so close by another human who she trusted completely, blindly, with the adoration due a god. Methodically, the girl listed every place her body touched his, every single sense she had was heightened. Cool breeze on her face, the scent of Leo and the strawberries nearby, the taste of his lips on her tongue, the sound of all camp around her and the sight of Leo's clean orange tee shirt. _Add those all up,_ she thought, _mix them together and you get pure joy. _

"Bet I could," he said with a quiet smile. Leo leaned to kiss her and as an afterthought, turned suddenly to the two small campers who had been watching their embrace.

"There's some major PDA coming up here, kids," he laughed and continued, "You might want to turn away." The two children grimaced and let out simultaneous 'Ewwws.'

Sholeh's laugh died in her throat when Leo's lips met hers. Breathless, the two kissed to the disgust of the two younger campers. Finally pulling away, Sholeh whispered, "Okay. You win."

Walking side-by-side, Leo and Sholeh went to find Chiron to tell him of what they had seen. On the way, Sholeh gave Leo a quick summary at which he frowned, realizing how close the girl had been (again) to death. It seemed only luck had spared Sholeh, and next time, that might not be good enough.

When the two demigods reached the Big House, Sholeh quietly knocked and hearing Chiron's 'come in,' looked at Leo nervously. He flashed her an encouraging smile and Sholeh pushed open the door, which creaked loudly.

Suddenly, Sholeh was flooded with doubts and fear. She had been Kronos' plan and the Titan believed with such certainty that she would betray them to wield the scythe on her own friends and family. And hadn't he been partially right? Hadn't Sholeh complained just hours before that her father had been shoved off Olympus, and hadn't her anger been so real, so maddeningly just? But more chilling was Kronos' assertion in his terrible voice, '_And I see much, child, that is to come.'_ What was to come? How could he know this? But still… wasn't it possible? The gods were so flawed, imperfect with their jealousies, sins, love, hatred, passion, anger, humiliation, tragedy, misery; but Kronos was a _Titan_. Wasn't he so much more powerful—No. She couldn't think that.

"Good, Sholeh," said Chiron in his reassuring voice, calm as ever. "Sit, sit," he continued, gesturing to a couch. Sholeh saw that Percy and Annabeth were leaning against each other, sitting in one chair. The rest of the cabin leaders sat in scattered places around the room. Clarisse scowled at Sholeh when she entered, as if saying 'Dammit-she-came-back.' Thalia sat in the back and Nico in a dark corner.

"Now, Percy, Nico, and Thalia were just telling me what happened," Chiron said.

"Yeah, who's Tethys?" Sholeh asked. "Silena said that she 'let Tethys into camp.'"

Chiron let out a sigh. "Tethys was one of the original twelve Titans and one of the sea. She was also the mother of the Oceanids. This is not good. If Tethys has breached our defenses, she can attack at any time. We must prepare for war immediately."

"Wait!" cried out a daughter of Aphrodite. "Where's Silena?"

Sholeh stared at the girl pityingly. "Kronos, or Luke, or whatever he's called…. Killed her with the scythe." The young girl looked distraught and her eyes filled with tears.

"Serves her right," growled Clarisse. "A traitor deserves to die."

"No," replied Sholeh, at first quietly, but then her voice rose louder, "No. I-if you had seen it, you wouldn't, couldn't say that. _No one_ deserves to die that way."

The demigods all filed out of the Big House, silent and melancholy until Clarisse yelled, "What are you all waiting for, losers? You heard Chiron, we've got a war to prepare for!" This immediately shook them all out of their daze, and everyone rushed off. There was no time to mope around; they were _heroes_ for crying out loud.

Percy, Annabeth, Sholeh and Leo all walked to the armory together to get fitted for battle armor. "See, I told you they would come back, Leo," said Annabeth unexpectedly. Obviously the two had bonded during the time that Percy and Sholeh were away.

"I knew that," Leo scoffed arrogantly.

"No, you didn't. Oh my gods, Sholeh, he was insufferable. I don't know how put up with him," teased Annabeth.

Sholeh laughed loudly, her head thrown back. "How so?"

"Oh, he just _moped_ all the time. And wouldn't leave his cabin, and then we finally got him out and that was even worse, because then we had to talk to him. He just started spouting off poetry at random moments or singing these _tragic _songs. Honestly, you'd have thought someone had died."

Sholeh stared at Leo, hysterically laughing. "That's not true!"

"It so is! You were being such a baby!" Annabeth mercilessly teased him.

"Oh, well at least I wasn't like you, all serious and analytical. I'm Annabeth," Leo replied, now laughing as well, "and I don't let myself feel any emotions whatsoever. Because that would interfere with the grave thinking I have to do."

Annabeth said, mock mortified, "I so do feel emotions! I just don't wear my heart on my sleeve!"

"Where's the fun in life if you don't?"

Waiting was torture. For three days were the demigods constantly prepared, always vigilant, waiting for the attack that wouldn't come. Sholeh was jumpy and flinched at the slightest motion she saw out of the corner of her eye. Leo, relaxed as ever, told her to "Chill out. Remember when you told me to?"

"Yes, and you refused," Sholeh replied, smiling.

Finally, on the fourth day, bubbles began to appear just off the coast, as if the sea were boiling. Heroes rushed down to the beach to see a woman, ten feet tall with black hair tangled with seaweed and a snake wrapped around her step onto the beach. "Hail the Titans!" she screamed, her voice like waves crashing against rock.

At the same time, a cruise ship suddenly rose from the ocean. It was filled to bursting with monsters, hanging off the side, eager for a meal of demigods. They rushed onto the beach wildly, attacking all those who stood nearby as someone blew the trumpet to alert other half bloods.

For three hours the demigods fought furiously against the monsters and the Titan. They were outnumbered nearly six to one, but never let any sign of fatigue escape them. Tethys proved to be impossible to hit; she controlled water in such a way that no blade ever reached her body nor arrow pierced her skin.

"Percy!" Annabeth screamed, and Sholeh feared the worst until she caught a glimpse of Percy running down to the beach.

"Annabeth, I have to do this," he explained, whispering into her ear. "I'm the only one who can defeat Tethys." Sholeh could barely see them as she fought angrily against an empousa.

"No," Annabeth cried, and she somehow reminded Sholeh of a wounded bird, "Someone else can…"

"Annabeth, I'll be right on the beach," Percy said firmly, "Nothing will happen to me. I won't let it." Percy finished, trying to convince himself as well. He tore himself away from the girl with tears clouding her eyes, though they did not fall. Annabeth stood for a moment, dazed, until a monster attacked and she swung at it viciously.

The battle raged on and on, for how long, neither Sholeh nor Leo knew. But the demigods were getting tired while the monsters were not. It was a fight unlike any half bloods had faced before. Before, any battle had been against monsters alone. Now, as the tide turned in favor of the Titans, more and more demigods joined the Titans, and now brothers fought against each other. Before, half bloods could view the monsters as merely inhuman brutes, a species to be killed for your own survival, and every monster's death was just another number, another foe eliminated, your chances of living made greater. They now fought against their own flesh and blood, people they had known all their life, and shared more memories with than they could count. They could not turn their traitors into simply another statistic for their own life, no matter how much they wanted to.

Leo and Sholeh fought side by side by the cabins. Normally, all sons of Apollo would be healing others, but for some reason, Leo had never had the talent or inclination for medicine. So they attacked together, and spoke all the time, trying to pretend that this was just another battle for practice in the arena.

Suddenly, a Cyclops came from behind Leo. He spun around wildly, firing swift arrows at the monster, but it impassively swung its club in a wide arc and Leo was knocked down, his armor pushed in. Sholeh screamed and ran to him, her legs beating the noise of a machine gun and she stabbed the surprised Cyclops, which dissolved into golden dust. The silver metal of Leo's chest plate was dented past repair, and was crushing his rib cage. Leo gasped for air, but smiled widely when Sholeh sat down on top of him to rip off the constricting armor.

"Be more careful!" she chided angrily.

"Ah, I don't think so," Leo replied, a mischievous smile creeping across his lips, "Even getting beat up by a Cyclops is worth it, if I get you on top of me." Sholeh rolled her eyes in return and tugged the armor off. Pulling Leo up, she glanced around furtively.

"We have to get you new armor," Sholeh said, grabbing Leo's hand and sneaking through the darkness to try and reach the armory safely. The two ran swiftly, dodging dangerous monsters, across the strawberry fields, until suddenly, they were surrounded. Beasts swarmed around them and Sholeh almost screamed in frustration. Leo gave her a weak smile and killed two monsters with his bow and arrow.

A dracena slithered over and hissing maliciously, struck at Sholeh with its sharp claws. The girl yelped and spun quickly to dodge. The monster's tail lashed out at Sholeh and struck her ankle, but Sholeh grabbed it and pulled. With a horrible scream, the dracena fell and Sholeh struck at it with her dagger. The monster erupted into a cloud of golden dust and Sholeh spun around to ask Leo, "Did you see that?"

But what Sholeh saw was the slender shaft of an arrow stuck in Leo's chest and a scarlet rose blooming on his shirt and then he gasped, falling backwards to the earth. Sholeh caught Leo in her arms, cradling his head, and looked up to see Theron, the son of Ares who had flirted with her so long ago with a bow in his hand, still cocked, and a plump, cherubic face over his shoulder. The tiny face vanished and Sholeh stared at the boy who was now the most hateful being to her, less than human, and Theron slowly smiled before he was consumed by the flames that sprung up to devour all those within Sholeh's reach.

"Leo, Leo, Leo," Sholeh cried, her voice climbing in agony over the sound of the fire surrounding them and the battle screams. Her expression echoed through Camp Half Blood, a chilling, terrible sound and Percy, on the beach, dreaded what he knew had happened.

"Hey there, firegirl," Leo breathed and tears ran down Sholeh's grimy cheeks. "C-could you tell my mom what happened? And… tell her I'm sorry that it did."

"What are you talking about, Leo?" the girl asked in agony. If she could just convince herself that Leo was fine, then he would be. _Like Peter Pan_, she thought dimly, _If she just believed hard enough_…. "You can tell her yourself!"

Leo gave a weak laugh. "My mom's still alive, firegirl."

"And so are you!" Why did he have to keep insisting on reality? Why wouldn't he pretend and didn't he know that his words were killing her?

"Just promise me you will," Leo pleaded softly, his voice becoming weaker and handsome face contorted with pain.

"I promise," Sholeh whispered. The girl reached out a hand to cup his face and Leo leaned against her warm skin. Her tears fell onto his chest, mingling with the scarlet blood that seeped from his wound. Leo, however, was oddly at peace. It was so much easier now that there was a limit. He'd had forever before, an entire life before him, and that endless time could have crushed him, but now he had never. No more pain or suffering or life. But no more Sholeh either.

"You can't leave me," she whispered. "I can't…. _live _without you, Casanova."

Leo smiled at the nickname. "You will, Sholeh. You'll live. I won't, but you will. Your name, firegirl."

"Why? Why? You can't take him away! I won't let him die!" she cried, her head thrown back, screaming at the heavens. Leo continued talking, and Sholeh fell silent again.

"Your name," he repeated. "Prometheus. You're just like him. You'll be the one to bring light back to the world, firegirl. I know it," Leo said, and his faith in her was pure torture to Sholeh. To never see his face again, never kiss his lips, never hear his laugh, never touch his skin or talk or run or joke with him. So much had been possible. They'd been _so close_.

Suddenly, Sholeh could hear the sound of cheering. Wild, victory cheers. _Human_ cheers. But they were bitter, a cruel mockery of life. Because no matter who won the battle, there was nothing left. Nothing mattered. Because her life was ended if Leo died.

"We won, Leo," she whispered to the boy in her arms. The color was retreating fast from his face and he had lost the energy to even smile.

"I know."

"We were so close, Leo." _Yes, so close_, though Sholeh with a pang, _so close to what? To defying the Oracle? A true hero will be destroyed. And no, no one goes against destiny. And love doesn't conquer all. Death does. Fate does. Not love._

"Still are. You are," he said, trying to conceal that terrible pain as his heart feebly continued to pump. Sholeh knew though, and a string of pink froth hung from his lips.

"I l—"

"Don't say it, Leo. Don't say it," Sholeh pleaded. If only he said that he didn't care for her, even if he hated her, then she could pretend, indifferently, that he had been nothing more than an acquaintance. Just another casualty. "It will be so much easier."

"I've never lied to you Sholeh, and I'm not about to start now," said Leo and Sholeh cursed him for being so truthful. But then she repented again, because she couldn't hate him. He was her compass, her idol, her true--.

"I love you," he whispered. And then Sholeh was violently kissing him, over and over, pressing her lips to his, hard, as if by some chance this could revive his heart, which beat so slowly.

And then suddenly Leo groaned in pain and Sholeh couldn't take it any longer. His anguish was tearing a hole in her heart and every one of his gasps was another twist of the dagger. She leaned backwards and Leo smiled, his beautiful smile of consummate human joy. And how could he smile in the face of such? But he did, and it was because Leo had felt something that no human words could describe. He had lived, but done more than that, and so he would live beyond death.

And suddenly Sholeh could see, could see so clearly, and she accepted it. So, as if freeing a dove from its prison, Sholeh released Leo's soul from its cage of flesh. She could feel his spirit floating in the air, smiling for just a moment and Sholeh smiled too, in memory of her lion. But then he was gone, and the world was dark once more, as a room in which its only candle has been extinguished, and Sholeh cried once again, the quiet smile gone from her lips.

Percy was carried on the shoulders of the campers away from the beach; he had been the one to defeat Tethys on that beach, and a frozen bit of sand marked that place. Annabeth laughed and cried when she saw him, and Percy felt that life could go on, that maybe they really could win this war, for Olympus and for themselves. But then the victory procession walked past the field.

In the center of the charred plain, surrounded by dying fire was Sholeh, her body folded over the lifeless, marble-pale body of her god. She kissed his cold lips passionately, and then cried out in agony once more.


	17. Madness Takes Its Toll

* * *

_Tap. Tap-Tap. Tap. Tap_. The noise was persistent, echoing fiercely, over and over again. Like rain against cement, or machine gun fire, or thousands of Hoplite soldiers marching in time. Spears clashing together and screaming Persians. _How had the pass at Thermopylae been held?_ she wondered, dazed and oblivious to the world around her, _Yes, that's right. With bloodshed._ _Typical. It was Ancient Greece, after all_. Yes, that's how anything was done in the ancient world. And what was her life, except a resurrection of archaic times? It was nothing besides that; the parallels were all there. Oh, yes. How blind she had been not to see it before. Of course **he** had been right. Prometheus, indeed.

"_You're just like him. You'll be the one to bring light back to the world, firegirl. I know it."_ How true that was. Yes, she was the child of the prophecy, Sholeh saw that all too clearly now. Perhaps she would save the world. It was an arrogant thought, she knew, but didn't care. And what of Prometheus, her namesake and predecessor? What of his fate? He was chained to a rock for eternity and an eagle ate out his liver every day. This cruelty was the Titan's reward for saving mankind. Zeus, with his merciless, twisted form of justice, had brought this punishment upon Prometheus, who in fact had helped him to the very throne of Olympus. Prometheus had betrayed the Titans to aid Zeus, only to be betrayed. And the gods were impartial, fair, kind? _I think not_.

_And what of me?_ Sholeh blinked slowly at this thought. _That's simple. My fate is the same as Prometheus'. I endure torture. Unending, merciless, impossible to defeat. __That__ is my reward for serving the gods. _And then, as harsh and violent as a gunshot, _Leo is dead. _

Part of Sholeh still didn't understand it. Her brain had not processed the information. _Death?_ It asked, _Gone forever? What do you mean?_ And when others tried to make her face reality, she retreated into the darkness of her own mind and Hades cabin.

At the funeral for the fallen demigods, Sholeh had sat in silence and watched as Leo's half sibling carefully folded a blanket embroidered with a sun and laid it over the boy. She had not allowed a single tear to fall from her eyes then. It was the most control she could keep over herself. Sholeh controlled her grief through the ceremony, even when a sobbing daughter of Aphrodite gave a cliché speech about Leo's bravery. But when Chiron lowered the torch to her lion's marble pale body, Sholeh lost all dominance over herself.

Demigods gasped in surprise when the girl, her body taut with pain and sorrow, grabbed the centaur's arm. She tore the torch from Chiron, ignoring his protests, and violently pushed the centaur away. Her face masked by darkness, Sholeh snapped once. The pyre was instantly engulfed in an inferno of hungry flames. The girl took a step closer, and the fire hid her. Sholeh bent closer still to kiss Leo's lips one last time before running, her body as sharp and straight as the barrel of a gun, to the silence and respite from reality that Hades cabin provided. Not a single person had seen her since then.

The memory rippled like water and disappeared. Sholeh was left with her painful thoughts.

_That__ is my torture; hate and love crushed together by the vacuum his death created. Hate for the gods, for the world, for myself, for the destruction I cause. For life. And love—love for Leo. I love you._

_But even in this…. torture, I'm alive. I still have a choice. I won't make Prometheus' same mistakes._

Sholeh stared blindly at the cold, blank, white wall in front of her. No noise could interrupt her reverie; not even her friends' yells from outside. They pounded at her door, day and night. _Tap. Tap. Tap. Thud. _But did she let them in? _No_, Sholeh thought, _no, I do not._ Her body quaked with silent laughter. _They won't get in. No, no, no, they won't. They don't get it, and so they don't get in. How…. Hilarious._ Suddenly a sound was ripped from her lips. It was like fire crackling, a cruel mockery of her previously joyous laugh.

Sholeh sat straight up, convulsing with maniacal, unstoppable hysterics from a terrible joke no one understood. She wondered detachedly what the water trickling down her face was.

* * *

"Gods damn it!" Percy swore vehemently, and kicked the door to Hades cabin. All he got for his trouble, though, was an aching foot. "Holy Poseidon," the boy muttered under his breath, wincing in pain.

"Percy," Annabeth scolded halfheartedly. She couldn't be truly angry with the sea god's son because in fact, she felt the same frustration. It was impossible not to be discouraged and exasperated when their friend hadn't seen daylight or a human face in four days.

Annabeth and Percy had stood outside whenever they had free time, begging Sholeh to leave Hades cabin. When that didn't work, they bribed, threatened, or pleaded with her. However, the two demigods got no response from the daughter of Hades and Hestia and knew that they would not. Sholeh could be unbelievably stubborn and downright dangerous at the best of times; neither Percy nor Annabeth could imagine what she would be like after such a loss.

"We should go," Percy whispered to the blonde girl. Annabeth turned to him, her eyes full of sadness and cheeks stained with tears. The boy wiped them away with his callused hand, a comforting gesture that said, 'I'm-here-for-you.'

"I don't want to leave her alone," Annabeth replied, intertwining her own, smaller hand with his. Percy shook his head firmly.

"Sholeh will come out when she's ready," he said.

"Will she ever be ready?" Annabeth sighed.

"Yes," replied Percy, his faith in Sholeh still strong. "But she needs to face this soon. It's not healthy. And there's a war on. Have you heard what people say about her?"

Annabeth shot him a quizzical look. "No."

"I heard two Apollo kids saying they think she killed him."

The girl gasped and replied, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"I know. But I guess… if you didn't know her…. You have to admit," Percy continued, grasping at straws. He didn't want to admit that the once closely-knit Camp Half Blood community was coming apart at its seams. It had started when Luke betrayed them, then more and more people joined the Titans, and now doubt pervaded the few demigods still loyal to Olympus. "Sholeh can be…. Well, you know."

Annabeth shook her head slowly. "No, I don't. How can you say that? Leo's death destroyed her. If this," the girl said, pulling her hand from Percy's and gesturing to Hades cabin, "doesn't prove Sholeh's loyalty, then I don't know what does."

"Annabeth, of course I don't believe it. But have you seen her fight?" He continued, desperately, "I know that Sholeh would never have…." Percy paused slightly. It was still hard to admit that Leo was gone, even after he had seen the body go up in smoke. "Killed Leo. She loved him, after all. And it's just that…. She would never forget. Never forgive. She's ruthless. And I'm not blaming Sholeh, because that's what she needs to be. But…." He trailed off, and Annabeth knew exactly what he meant.

"Let's not talk about it," the girl said quietly.

The two demigods finally walked away hand in hand, sadly. Leo's death did not go unmourned by them; they had in fact been devastated by it. The boy had been a loyal friend and both Percy and Annabeth missed him terribly. They avoided talking about it because of the pain it caused them.

But none of this could match what Sholeh felt. It was an aching in her heart without remedy, like some vital organ had been ripped from her body. Sholeh felt as if her heart was slowly hemorrhaging, her spirit drained of all will to live. And this was caused by something irreversible, unstoppable, unfair and yet undiscriminating; the great equalizer, Death. Leo had gone somewhere she could never follow him to. She wouldn't leave her cabin for fear of the pain she might inflict unwillingly upon her own friends.

Sholeh had believed that he would be there forever. _Naïve_, she told herself in rare moments of lucidity and sanity, _Naïve and stupid. _How cruel it all was. She had a purpose though; before the end came, Sholeh wanted only to repay the one responsible. Her last, most powerful wish, and it would be self-fulfilled.

* * *

"Αφροδιτε," Sholeh whispered. And then, she screamed the goddess' name. "APHRODITE!"

All was deathly still for a moment until the sweet smell of perfect wafted in. It was the most perfect scent that Sholeh had ever experienced; grass, ink, rosin, light salty sweat, raspberries. The smell struck a chord in her memory that was painfully familiar. Her heart leapt in joy for a moment, recognizing the scent. _Leo_, was her only thought before it all came rushing back to her, and it was as if a knife was twisted into her heart. Sholeh gasped in pain and a single tear shook on the tip of her nose.

Suddenly, a pale pink cloud burst in the center of the room, and the most beautiful woman Sholeh had ever seen appeared. Her appearance was impossible to describe and she was dressed in an expensive looking pink and silver gown. To Sholeh however, the goddess' gorgeous image was only a mask to cover her hateful soul.

"Yes, darling, what is it?" the goddess asked in a high-pitched, ultra-feminine voice. She took out a tiny mirror and dabbed at her make up.

Sholeh was finally broken from her trance. The girl stood up angrily, and though blood rushed suddenly to her head and her knees threatened to buckle, Sholeh took a few steps toward the goddess. She had barely eaten in four days and was probably dehydrated, but forced herself to get up. Aphrodite looked unconcerned and applied another layer of lip-gloss.

"You," Sholeh whispered, her voice low like the growl of a wild animal. "You took him away from me."

"I may have had a hand in it, yes," the goddess replied, snapping the hand mirror shut with a loud crack. "But really, it wasn't all me. Your own father is the god of the underworld, Sholeh."

"Don't talk to me about the Underworld," the demigod replied, teeth gritted in a snarl. "Why did you do it?" But this was not a question, it was a command.

"Why? Why?" Aphrodite asked, her eyes widened in exaggerated shock. Sholeh's hands tightened into white-knuckled fists. "My dear, have you forgotten Apollo's words?" Sholeh didn't understand and Aphrodite saw this. The goddess smiled, showing her perfectly white, straight teeth. "_Don't insult Aphrodite or her son, Sholeh. Because the wounds caused by love are more deadly than any caused by arrows or swords,"_ the goddess quoted playfully, her tone mocking Sholeh.

Realization washed over Sholeh and her body went weak. Staggering backwards and running her hands through her hair, the girl looked quite deranged. Aphrodite seemed to enjoy this. "That, and the fact that you ended my fun with Percy and Annabeth," the goddess said, mock-pouting. "It was so not my plan for you to play matchmaker. They were _supposed_ to have a few more tragic months without each other. Really play out that teenage angst."

"We aren't puppets," the girl said brusquely.

"Au contraire, darling."

"So you made me fall in love with him. And then…"

"Well, I must admit that I had little part in the love department. That was all you, my dear," Aphrodite frowned a little at this, "And of course that handsome son of Apollo. Though it was very helpful." Sholeh let out a sigh of relief. Her love was once again pure, untainted by godly influence.

"Who guided the arrow?" Aphrodite seemed surprised that Sholeh had figured this out and the demigod smiled, her lips curling slightly.

"Guided the arrow?... Ah, yes. You see, Theron was a loyal follower of me, albeit a son of Ares. He was quite smitten with _you_, my dear," the goddess said, and Sholeh remembered a time long ago (it seemed centuries) when the boy had unsuccessfully flirted with her. "And so he was easy to manipulate. But the problem was, he was quite hopeless with a bow and arrow. I realized that, and sent a very dear someone to help him. I won't tell you who, little hero."

The girl thought of a plump, cherubic face appearing over Theron's shoulder for just a moment. _Cupid._

Sholeh collapsed onto her chair, palms up in a sign of submission. She had never obeyed anyone's power but her own, but this was a battle she could not win. "Please, Lady," the demigod began, and Aphrodite grinned even wider.

"Please," she continued, "I have _never_ surrendered. To anyone. I have never begged or pleaded. Never gone down on my knees. But I will, now, if you want me to. I will do _anything_," at this, a single tear formed and rolled slowly down Sholeh's face, and she cursed her own weakness. "If you will only bring him back. I can't live without Leo."

"Awww, so touching," cried the goddess. "I think I'm getting teary-eyed. You'll make me smudge my mascara, dear. Unfortunately, I am not your father. I can't bring people back from the dead."

Sholeh leapt up in anger. "Just ask the other gods--"

"And second of all, what makes I want to bring your dear Leo back? I enjoy this, darling. When you live forever, you need entertainment." Aphrodite looked innocently at the girl who stood quaking with rage and grief. The goddess took a step back to leave but Sholeh's words stopped her.

"Say hello to Adonis for me." The name registered in the goddess' memory and she stopped stock-still. "Oh, you can't?" Sholeh continued ruthlessly, ignoring Aphrodite, who now had genuine tears in her eyes. "Why not? Is he dead? And you can't save him. Well, that's alright. Us mortals need entertainment."

The goddess gasped noisily for air, tears pouring down her face. "How dare you?" she yelled.

"I thought so," Sholeh stated plainly. The goddess, probably realizing that her makeup was smudged, disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke.

* * *


	18. Epilogue

disclaimer: take a wild guess.

i would like to dedicate this last chapter to all my readers and reviewers who patiently stuck with me through it all. thank you!! xoxo.

* * *

Epilogue- 5 Months Later

A cool breeze blew through the willow trees, sending a pleasant shiver down Sholeh's spine. The girl stared up wonderingly at the robin's egg blue sky above her; the weather was indeed beautiful. Like the light at the end of the tunnel, the earth had finally stopped convulsing as it had for the days after Kronos' demise. Now, standing on the steps to Hades cabin and leaning casually against the doorpost, Sholeh felt the tension melt off her shoulders. Kronos was dead, truly gone forever, and it had been at her hands. The memory of the Titan's twisted face would haunt Sholeh's dreams tonight, but the day provided respite. She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling like a traitor for being happy until a voice sounded in her head: _Chill, firegirl._

Smiling softly, Sholeh took the cautious first step out of her cabin, her footsteps ringing against the obsidian stairs. She clutched the crumpled note tighter in her hand, keeping her safe from the stares of campers. Sholeh broke suddenly into a full out sprint, her hair streaming out behind her. The girl pushed her legs faster and refused to stop until she reached Fireworks Beach.

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover sat under a tree not far from the shore. Grinning widely, Sholeh silently tiptoed up behind them, pausing to hear their conversation.

"Are you sure she's coming, Annabeth?" Grover asked, his eyes scanning the beach.

"Yes," the girl affirmed, her eyes determined. Sholeh, however, saw Percy stroke Annabeth's hand with his own, before bringing it to his lips and kissing it softly. The unseen demigod smiled happily. _They're perfect for each other_, she noted mentally.

Annabeth giggled and shook her head, curly golden hair flying. "Percy…" she warned. "Now is hardly the time."

"OK, OK, fine," the boy grumbled. "Always so serious. Never any fun."

Sholeh couldn't see around the tree she was hiding behind, but she heard the smack and winced for Percy.

"Ow, I was just _kidding_, Wisegirl!"

Annabeth laughed. "I know, _Seaweed Brain_," she countered, stressing the nickname. It had long ago changed from an insult to a sign of affection, however. Sholeh glimpsed the daughter of Athena nestled in Percy's arms and her grin spread further.

The three sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, and Sholeh began to wonder if she should jump out and surprise them. _No,_ she finally decided, _Percy will probably think I'm Luke and run me through with Riptide, if I try that. _Somehow, the son of Hermes had managed to evade capture and death, his body freed of Kronos. The gods searched for him constantly, but it was in vain. The boy seemed to have vanished from the face of the planet. Percy would like nothing more than to find him and defeat him in battle, but Sholeh suspected that Luke just wanted a fresh start.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by Percy's voice. "I don't think that Sholeh is coming, Annabeth," the son of Poseidon said softly, and the girl in question frowned from her hiding spot.

"Percy! Your lack of faith in my punctuality hurts, it really does."

The three friends spun around to see Sholeh standing behind them, hands on hips, raven black hair straying wildly in the wind, mouth twisted in a sarcastic half smile and eyes twinkling with a mirth that none of them had seen in a long, long time.

Silently they all got up and hugged her, a gesture of loyalty and affection. "Ugh, what is this?" Sholeh joked, though her friends' bodies muffled her voice. "When did you all get so nice? Disgusting," she scoffed, pushing them away jokingly and taking a seat on the sand where they had been sitting moments before.

"Just making up for my 'lack of faith in your punctuality,' Sholeh," Percy joked. The boy stared in shock at Sholeh. Even after a week, the boy couldn't get used to Sholeh's hair. In her battle with Kronos, it had somehow turned pitch black, darker than the night itself. Sholeh had just shrugged and said, '_I bet Dad's happy now.'_

"Okay, okay," the daughter of Hades and Hestia laughed.

"Did you get my note?" Annabeth asked, still smiling at the sight of her friend.

"No, Annabeth, I magically knew to meet you all at the beach, October 22, at 3 o'clock."

"Really?" Grover asked, his eyes wide in amazement. Sholeh just stared back at him, one eyebrow raised disbelievingly. "Ohhh," the satyr realized suddenly, "You were being sarcastic."

"Wow. Even I is not _that_ stupid, G-Man," Percy joked. Sholeh and Annabeth turned to stare at him. "What?"

"Did you just say 'I is not?'" Annabeth finally asked. Sholeh just cradled her head in her hands in exasperation.

"Yes, why?... Oh."

The entire group suddenly burst into laughter.

* * *

Hours later, the three demigods sat, watching the sunset over the water. Sholeh and Annabeth were shivering, since Percy had made a wave splash them and the temperature had dipped suddenly, and become much more like late October than the summer weather they had been having. Grover had left half an hour ago to see Juniper in the medical cabin- her tree gotten a nasty cut as she defended the Camp from empousae.

Sholeh and Annabeth were ignoring Percy entirely until he dried them off using his water powers, but so far it wasn't working. The boy in question continued to wolf down the chicken he had stolen from the mess hall earlier, and so all three sat in reflective silence.

"Holy Hades," Sholeh suddenly groaned. "Honestly." She snapped her fingers and suddenly the water evaporated off her in a puff of white steam. "Why didn't I think of that earlier?" She did the same to a very grateful Annabeth.

"So, Percy," Sholeh said evilly, turning to the boy, "Do _you _like fire?" A tiny flame sprang up on his shirt. He squealed girlishly and put it out with water, before glaring at a hysterical Sholeh. His girlfriend was in a similar state; laughing mercilessly at him.

"That wasn't nice," Percy pouted, arms crossed and looking like a small child. The two girls just laughed harder and he continued in a gruffer tone, "Don't make me get a wave up here."

"Okay, fine," Sholeh agreed, shaking his hand mock-solemnly. "Truce."

The girl turned away suddenly, looking towards the water. Sholeh could almost see a boy with sandy hair, deep chocolate brown eyes, and a welcoming, warm smile standing there. She remembered the first time they had gone swimming, almost tasting the freezing, salty water and feeling his touch on her skin. _I love you_.

Sholeh closed her eyes, trying to block out the images. Annabeth and Percy must have noticed her barely audible sigh, because the two demigods moved closer.

"We missed you, Sholeh," Annabeth said, tapping the girl on the shoulder. Sholeh continued to stare forlornly out to sea, and Percy put his arm around both her and Annabeth.

"It's good to have you back," the boy said simply.

Sholeh nodded and, her voice thick with emotion, replied, "Good to be back."

* * *

"How does it feel?" asked Annabeth moments later, trying to change the subject. "To not have the prophecy, I mean."

"Well, it feels nice not to have a sixteen year expiration date," joked Sholeh.

"Yeah," agreed Percy. "Though Poseidon knows what I'm going to do after this." Annabeth nodded. She knew the feeling.

"Did you apply for that internship, Annabeth?" Sholeh asked. The daughter of Athena had just days before applied at a famous architect's office.

Annabeth nodded slowly. "I'm not sure, though… I don't think that I'll get it," she said uncertainly, her voice trembling a little.

"Of course you will," stated Percy as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Annabeth smiled weakly. "You're the smartest girl I know; how could they not accept you?"

"You're going to be the best architect the world has ever seen, Annabeth," Sholeh continued. It was easy for her to say that because she believed it, heart and soul.

Annabeth let out a quiet, but grateful, "Thanks."

"What about you, Percy?" asked Sholeh. "You could be like Van Helsing, except you hunt down Greek monsters."

The boy let out a strangled laugh. "Somehow, I don't think that'll pay too well, Sholeh. Considering the fact that most people believe Greek monsters don't exist—"

"Eh, technicalities," Sholeh scoffed and waved her hand impatiently.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," said Percy.

"We've got time," replied Annabeth.

"And you, Sholeh?" the boy asked, turning towards her and staring, waiting for her answer.

There was silence, except for the waves splashing against the shore. Sholeh stared out at the ocean as it moved, almost imperceptibly at first, but then force gathered and the water crashed violently. Creeping backwards, pulled by an invisible force, and then it tried to escape again. Again and again, order in such a chaotic world.

And then, barely audible, but with incredible passion, Sholeh spoke.

"I think I'm going to play at being Orpheus for a while."

* * *

"What?" Annabeth asked, though she knew exactly what the girl meant.

"You're going to do the cancan?" Percy continued in a tone of disbelief and confusion. It was clear that he knew nothing of what Sholeh meant.

"That's Orpheus in the Underworld, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth scolded. "It was an operetta, and yes, where the 'cancan' music was first played. This is something totally different. When are you going to learn your mythology?"

"Sometime," mumbled Percy sheepishly.

"Sholeh, don't do this. You can't—" Annabeth began, but was cut off.

"Why not? Why can't I?" Sholeh asked angrily, her famous (or rather, infamous) temper provoked. "You don't understand."

"No, I don't, and I won't pretend to. But maybe you should talk to your Nico, Sholeh, before doing something that you'll regret."

"I already have!" the girl replied furiously, struggling in vain to get a hold of her emotions. "And I'm not going to make his same mistakes."

"What's going on?" asked Percy, very confused.

"She wants to go to the Underworld to find Leo," Annabeth explained angrily.

"Why, Sholeh?" Percy asked, frowning, though his eyes were sad.

"I love him."

"_Loved_. Past tense."

"'When a person dies, one does not stop loving him, does one?'" Sholeh quoted Leo's favorite book that he had made her read so many months ago. Her eyes began to shine with tears.

"Sholeh, you can't. He's gone. You have to accept it."

Sholeh stood, her fists clenched and hair beginning to turn hot and coppery. "You're wrong," she stated flatly. "You see," she continued, as her eyes began to shine, "Death is an obstacle, just like… well, like pretty much anything else in a demigod's life. Trick is, you need to know how to get past it." The girl turned on her heel and began to stride away.

"Please, Sholeh," Annabeth pleaded. "Just sit down, and we can talk about this." Sholeh was going to refuse, but spun around and saw the caring and anxiety in her friend's eyes.

"Alright," she conceded, and though still seething, Sholeh sat back down. "Daddy dearest and the rest of Olympus still owe me a favor, I think."

The two demigods nodded. "We're coming with you," Percy suddenly stated, his eyes flashing in determination.

"No! You can't!" the girl exclaimed. "I'm not going to let you be put in danger—"

"Oh please, Sholeh. Like we've never been in danger before," laughed Annabeth. "We're coming with you. You forget that Leo was our friend, too."

"But you two have lives, and Annabeth, you have that internship... I can't take you away from all that," Sholeh protested. Annabeth and Percy simply crossed their arms (strangely, at the same moment) and stared back at her.

"Sholeh, we are going with you whether you like it or not," announced Annabeth. Seeing that they were not to be deterred, Sholeh nodded grimly.

Finally, she said, "Thank you." And with that, the girl stood up, her dark hair erratically falling into her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Percy called to Sholeh, who was now walking back through the forest.

"I thought you lovebirds could use some time alone," Sholeh called back jokingly, though she did not dare turn around. "And…. I have something I need to do. I made a promise a long time ago. I intend to keep it."

* * *

In the hallway of the second floor, 61 North Moore Street, New York City, among the peeling paint and rusty light fixtures stood a girl. She had blue eyes that burned with passion, ivory pale skin, and unnaturally black, wild hair that threatened to engulf her face. Her body consisted of lean muscle and she stood straight up, with her shoulders back and head high, daring someone to challenge her. The girl had a strange scar that stretched from her ribs up across her chest to her left collarbone. She took long, sharp strides to the door of apartment 2B and raised her hand. The strange girl hesitated a moment before knocking three times on the door, the noise ringing out as sharp and clear as a gunshot.

Michelle Eliot, a woman of thirty-two, with four children (though she only acknowledged the existence of three), messy golden hair, and twinkling, merry eyes opened the door. She stared at the young girl before her—Michelle guessed she couldn't be any older than seventeen, though the hardness in her eyes suggested someone much older—in surprise, and finally spoke.

"What can I do for you, dear?" The woman seemed reluctant to open the door any further than a crack. The girl noticed the yelling of small children from inside, and cocked her head at the noise.

"Are you Michelle Eliot?" she asked suddenly, and her voice reminded the woman inexplicably of a wildfire and raw power.

"Yes, I am, though most call me Mrs. O'Connell now," the woman replied pleasantly, before narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "How do you know my maiden name?" When the girl didn't respond, but fiddled with her silver bracelet that had a large, gleaming ruby on it, Mrs. O'Connell continued. "Who are you?" she demanded.

The girl suddenly looked up, her motions sharp and defined. "Sholeh," she replied simply.

"Don't you have a last name?" Michelle Eliot was now beginning to suspect that the girl was mentally challenged, and lost.

"No. Well, I do, but I don't use it."

Michelle was now beginning to tire of the girl's short, curt replies. "What do you want?" she asked wearily.

"I come from your son," she said, staring the woman in the eye. Michelle looked confusedly back into the apartment.

"I don't understand—" Clearly, five years of living without her first son had taken its toll. _Out of sight, out of mind_, Sholeh thought.

"Your son, Leo Eliot," she replied, without any noticeable signs of recognition. "Er—" Sholeh stumbled, before remembering a conversation from long ago, "_Lev_ Eliot?" she asked finally.

Recognition began to dawn on the woman's face. She stepped out of the apartment and closed the door behind her hastily, before reaching into her pocket and drawing out a wallet. "Here," Michelle Eliot said, grabbing money and pushing it into Sholeh's hands, "Please, _please_, don't tell my family. I've never told them, you see, and—"

Sholeh stared at the woman with a disgusted expression on her face. "Look here," the girl said furiously, shoving the money back at the woman, "I don't want your _money_. I didn't come here to embarrass, or blackmail, or even to judge what you did. I came here," Sholeh's voice was shaking with this, "because I promised your son I would tell you something, and I would _never_ break a promise I made to him."

Michelle Eliot whispered fearfully, "What is it?"

"Ms. Eliot… Leo is gone."

"Gone? What do you mean?" the woman's voice rose hysterically.

"Leo is dead." Even after all these months, it still hurt more than any pain Sholeh had ever known. More even than Kronos' scythe splitting open her skin, the wound that had given her the scar. Sholeh saw the woman crumple, defeated, to the ground and heard the tiniest moan escape her lips. "I'm sorry," Sholeh murmured.

The girl stood silently until Michelle Eliot spoke again. "How?" she asked, her voice thick with the tears she could not let fall.

"Kronos' army invaded Camp Half Blood," Sholeh began dispassionately. It was only by retreating into her mind could she tell the story. "He fought bravely, and fell." The girl couldn't bear to tell the woman of Aphrodite's punishment, or that it had been Sholeh's fault. Sholeh suddenly offered the woman her hand. Michelle Eliot didn't take it. "Look, I know that this won't make you feel better, it didn't help me, but… the one who killed him is dead."

Mrs. O'Connell's nod was barely perceptible, but Sholeh noticed it, and continued. Tears sprung to the girl's eyes, though she refused to cry. "And…. Leo… well, he's in Elysium. And, it's…. well, it's pretty perfect there, so…"

"How do you know he's there?"

"Let's just say that I have a pretty good feeling about it." Sholeh let the tiniest smile paint her lips.

_Trust Leo to send some clairvoyant girl,_ Michelle Eliot thought with a sad inner smile.

"Was he happy?" Leo's mother asked finally.

Sholeh pondered the question. Images sprang instantly to her mind. Leo leaning against a doorpost, the first time they spoke; Leo teaching her archery; Leo catching her those countless times; Leo running his fingers through his hair; Leo squirting water out of his mouth like a fountain; Leo kissing her in the pouring rain; Leo quoting his favorite book; Leo composing a Symphony; and finally Leo's beautiful smile, his valiant spirit and love of life. _I love you_.

"Yes," said Sholeh simply. "Yes, he was happy." Suddenly, the strange girl began to walk away.

"Wait!" Michelle O'Connell called out, before pulling herself up. Sholeh looked back at the woman, her deep blue eyes shining with tears- or was it joy? "Who are you?"

"Sholeh Prometheus, daughter of Hades and Hestia. Called 'Titan-Slayer' by the gods and 'firegirl' by Leo Eliot, your son, who was the only one I will ever love."

Her voice rang unnaturally in the dingy hallway for a moment before she walked away again. And then, as an afterthought, the demigod looked back at the owner of apartment 2B. "You should remember that," the girl advised with a smile, "Who knows? You might see me again someday." And with that, Sholeh Prometheus turned on her heel and strode away, slamming the door of the fire escape as she left.

THE END

* * *

huzzah!!

so when sholeh says 'When a person dies, one does not stop loving him, does one?' that is indeed, a quote from _we the living_ by ayn rand, 'leo's favorite book.'

**love it? hate it? do tell!! reviews, please- they cure my lethargy.**

also, do you all think that i should tell the story of how sholeh defeats kronos (and what happened the past 5 months) or should i just skip to the underworld adventure??

thank you all for being so fabulous!!


End file.
